The second round of the 2015-2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Valkenburg, Netherlands resulted in splendid wins for home rider Lars van der Haar (Team Giant-Alpecin) and Italian champion Eva Lechner (Team Colnago SudTirol). For the third year in a row an impressive Van der Haar blew away the opposition on the tough course that was created around the famous Cauberg climb in Valkenburg. Lechner was able to shake off her last rival in the penultimate lap and grabbed her career second World Cup victory, again in the Netherlands. Lechner becomes the new leader in the World Cup standings in the Women category. In the Elite Men category, Belgian rider Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) remains in the lead after two rounds thanks to his second place in Valkenburg.
The race in the Elite Men category on Sunday afternoon was characterized by the fierce counter-attack in the second lap from Van der Haar. He surged away after a fast opening lap from Van Aert who then had to shift back and let the Dutchman go. A chase group with three Belgian riders consisting of Van Aert, Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) was never able to pose a threat for the 24 year-old Dutch leader. Van der Haar flawlessly tackled the short climbs, the multiple twists and turns and excelled on the technical descents. He completed a nearly race-long solo ride in Valkenburg. Halfway the race Pauwels was dropped by Nys and Van Aert, trailing the leader by half a minute. In the final lap Nys was no threat for Van Aert who captured second place thus holding on to the World Cup lead. Nys was third at short distance. Pauwels finished fourth at a minute from the winner. Swiss champion Julien Taramarcaz (Era Real Estate - Murprotec) was best of the rest in fifth place ahead of young Michael Vanthourenhout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games), who was third in CrossVegas last month.
The victory from Eva Lechner in the Women category came after a nice duel with British rider Nikki Harris. With two laps to go Lechner was able to shake her off and work her way towards the victory. Behind the 30 year-old winner the fight for the remaining podium results was spectacular. Young Kaitlin Antonneau (Twenty 16 p/b Sho-Air) was putting Harris under pressure in the final lap. Harris lost out on what would have been a deserved podium result when she crashed hard on a tricky off-camber descent in that final lap. The crash allowed American rider Antonneau to move into second place. The 23 year-old made no mistakes and captured a career best result by finishing as runner-up in Valkenburg at ten seconds from Lechner. Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic) confirmed her good form with third place on the Cauberg. Belgian champion Sanne Cant was fourth ahead of Amanda Miller (USA) and unlucky Nikki Harris. Due to the absence of Czech World Cup leader Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) the white jersey of leader in the World Cup switches to Lechner, who finished second at the opening round of the World Cup in Las Vegas, USA. Lechner scored 110 points in two rounds. Cant moves into second place with 85 points, which is twenty points ahead of third-placed Antonneau.
Crossing the finish line with a wheelie, that’s how 20 year-old Italian rider Gioele Bertolini celebrated his victory in the Men Under 23 category. Bertolini held off fierce Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) who was gaining ground back after working his way through traffic due to a third-row start position. Bertolini was too strong but the 17 year-old Belgian rider fought his way back to second place by distancing Clément Russo (France) in the final lap. In the Junior Men category Jappe Jaspers (Belgium) completed a long solo ride on the Cauberg after enjoying a good start. In-form Jens Dekkers (Netherlands) finished as runner-up ahead of Seppe Rombouts (Belgium). Since the World Cup round in Valkenburg was the opening round in the youth categories Bertolini and Jaspers are the first leaders.
The next round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup will be held next month in Koksijde, Belgium where the sand dunes at the North Sea will provide completely different challenges to the cyclo-cross peloton.