Ahead of an action-packed December, Ceylon Alvarado pushed to the lead in the Women Elite field while Eli Iserbyt needs to resist Pim Ronhaar’s surge.
Men Elite: Ronhaar on the way up
Young riders from Baloise Trek Lions are lighting up the autumn in the 2023-2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. The reigning Under 23 UCI World Champion Thibau Nys (BEL) dominated mid-October’s first event of the season in Waterloo (USA) and his teammate and predecessor with the U23 rainbow bands Pim Ronhaar has taken over with two victories in Dendermonde (Belgium, November 12) and Dublin (Ireland, November 26).
The 22-year-old Dutchman took his first Elite successes after two spectacular battles in the mud. “I felt so good”, he said with a grin in Dublin. “The sand pit wasn’t really my thing but I did really good in the last lap. And then Laurens [Sweeck] came past me in the last 500 metres. I waited for the right moment and it’s an insane feeling to win like this.”
Already on the podium in Waterloo (3rd), Ronhaar has powered towards the front of the overall standings: 2nd with 128 points.
But consistency pays for Belgium’s Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), who took the leadership with a victory in Troyes (France, November 19) and retained it with another podium finish in Dublin (3rd), his fourth out of five UCI World Cup events this season. He has a tally of 147 points, 19 more than Ronhaar, with another Dutchman from Baloise Trek Lions, Lars Van der Haar, in 3rd position (121 pts).
Women Elite: Bäckstedt meddles in the Dutch party
After Fem van Empel (Team Jumbo-Visma) had a sensational start of the season in Waterloo and Maasmechelen (Belgium, October 29), her Dutch compatriot Ceylin Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has taken over with two wins of her own in Dendermonde and Troyes.
Victory escaped her in Dublin, as Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions), another Oranje star, showed her class. But Alvarado was still happy with her performance - “I think that’s the best I could do today… and there are some strong girls behind” - and her overall situation.
The two-time winner of the Women Under 23 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup currently leads the overall standings with 165 points. She has a margin of 63 points to Great Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//Sram Racing), who turned 19 at the end of September and has already taken two Elite podiums this season (3rd in Dendermonde and Dublin).
Behind Bäckstedt, five Dutch riders complete the top seven - Brand (95 pts), Inge van der Heijden (93), Leonie Bentveld (84), Van Empel (80) and Manon Bakker (74) - ahead of Czechia’s Kristýna Zemanová (Brilon Racing Team MB, 8th with 67 pts).
Youth classes: tomorrow’s stars show their colours
The circuits of Troyes and Dublin also hosted the first races of the 2023-2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup for the Men Under 23, Men Junior and Women Junior categories.
The Dutch skills shone again with Tibor Del Grosso (NED). Runner-up to Nys last year in the Men Under 23 UCI World Cup, he had won the last round in Besançon (France) and he’s kept rolling this autumn with two victories, in Troyes and Dublin.
Italy’s Stefano Viezzi also won his two races in the Men Junior class, while Great Britain’s Cat Ferguson (Women Junior) leads with 70 points after she won in Troyes and finished 2nd in Dublin. France’s Célia Géry follows with 65 points after her Irish success.
A festive December ahead
With nine more rounds packed into the next two months, everything is still at play to succeed the overall winners of 2022-2023 – Fem Van Empel, Eli Iserbyt, Thibau Nys, Shirin Van Anrooij, Léo Bisiaux and Lauren Molengraaf.
The next round will be held in Flamanville (France) next weekend and iconic venues of Antwerpen (Belgium, December 23), Gavere (Belgium, December 26) and Hulst (Netherlands, December 30) will host the cyclo-cross celebrations of the turn of the year.
And the greatest stars are getting their gifts ready, with icons such as Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) gearing to battle with their historical rivals.