Twelve rounds down, two more to go! The turn of the year means the cyclo-cross season heads into crunch time, with the last events of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup to be held in Benidorm (Spain, January 22) and Besançon (France, January 29) in the second half of the month, after iconic Belgian venues - Gavere and Zonhoven - saw the big names battle it out for the front positions.
Men Elite: Sweeck and Van Aert come out on top
Two more rounds saw more victories for Mathieu Van der Poel and Wout van Aert. In Gavere the Dutch star claimed his 31st UCI World Cup success at Elite level, while Van Aert came second. A couple of weeks later, the roles were reversed, with the Belgian icon delivering a masterclass to take victory 1’23’’ ahead of his rival.
A sandstorm named @WoutvanAert and the sun appeared in Zonhoven today! 💨☀ #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/7zdSG7G0N8
— UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (@UCIcyclocrossWC) January 8, 2023
After sitting out the first rounds of the season, their charge at the front sees them move up the rankings - MVDP is now 6th in the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup while WVA is up to 10th. The battle for the overall victory, however, is set between Belgians Laurens Sweeck and Michael Vanthourenhout.
The former won the Junior overall UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in 2010-2011, and the latter took the Men Under 23 overall title in 2014-2015. One of them will now win the series at the Elite level.
In recent weeks, Vanthourenhout won in Val di Sole (Italy) and edged out Sweeck in Gavere (4th against 6th) but Sweeck returned to the podium last weekend - 3rd in Zonhoven, his 7th top-3 result in 12 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup rounds. Sweeck now has a 24-point lead ahead of the two remaining rounds.
Women Elite: Van Anrooij keeps rising
“I was just in a really good flow,” Shirin van Anrooij observed after she mastered the sandy Zonhoven circuit to power to her third UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup victory of the season, the second consecutively after a training block that has obviously paid off.
The 20-year-old Dutch rider - she will turn 21 at the UCI Worlds - had already claimed success on Dutch soil, in Beekse Bergen, in November. She is the woman to beat, but it won’t be enough to bring her to the summit of the standings.
Ahead of the final two rounds, fellow Dutchwoman Fem van Empel retains the overall lead she has held since the start of the season, with a 35-point margin over Puck Pieterse (355 vs 320). After she crashed out in Val di Sole, Van Empel missed the Gavere round and had a rough start in Zonhoven. She went down again… but got back up to stand on the podium, 3rd behind her two young compatriots, Van Anrooij and Pieterse.
“Crashed hard, but I didn’t give up,” the 20-year-old highlighted on social media. Her biggest fights of the season lie ahead.
Youth battles: Nys, Molengraaf and Bisiaux impress
A couple of months after their first UCI World Cup challenges of the season, champions in the making returned to action in Zonhoven with dedicated races for the Men Under 23, Women Under 23 and Men Junior categories. The faces at the front are becoming familiar with repeated success for the most talented youngsters.
Already a winner of the Men Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (2019-2020), Thibau Nys is racking up Under 23 victories before he goes on to try and conquer the world, like his father Sven did two decades earlier. Back in October, the young Belgian was dominant in Tábor (Czech Republic) and Maasmechelen (Belgium). He went on to display his talents among the Elite riders (6th in Overijse, Belgium, and 7th in Gavere). And he started 2023 with a third Under 23 victory in as many rounds dedicated to that category.. Who can stop him?
Lauren Molengraaf is also achieving absolute dominance in the Women Junior ranks. Like Nys, the Dutch youngster took her third UCI World Cup victory of the season in Zonhoven. She’s also impressed in Elite battles, with 12th place in Antwerpen (Belgium), and was crowned Junior European Champion this season. With a lead of 46 points in the overall UCI World Cup rankings, more success is in sight for Molengraaf.
In the Men Junior category, Léo Bisiaux may not share the same perfect record but the young Frenchman is nonetheless brilliant this season. Edged by Guus van den Eijnden (NED) in Maasmechelen after his inaugural success in Tábor, Bisiaux (also crowned at the Europeans) won again in Zonhoven, while Van den Eijnden came 3rd. The young Dutch rider needs to overhaul a 27-point lead in Benidorm and Besançon to get back to the top.
The stakes are laid, the stages are set… The final battles of the cyclo-cross season promise to be thrilling!