It's hard to believe, but already we've reached the sixth installment of this season's Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee, one of the shining jewels of the cyclo cross crown (once the mud's been hosed off, anyway).
Baal is a demon in Christian mythology, which makes the name of this round's setting rather apt - a devilishly complicated parcours follows a twisted, convoluted route on tarmac, over bridges and ladders and into the forest with enough tight bends to keep even the hardest-to-please fans happy. If it rains - and it looks like it will with nearly 3mm predicted - expect the course to be extremely slippery; if it doesn't expect it to be slippery anyway because nearly 9mm is forecast for the 31st of December. Windspeeds of up to 30kph will also liven things up, and make conditions for spectators feel much colder than the expected 13C. British star Nikki Harris went to have a look at the parcours on the 31st of December and confirms via Twitter that the rain has done its work:
"Nikkiharris86 Nikki Harris
Just been to have a look at the course in baal for tomorrow (by look at I just mean I looked at it) one word......mud!!!!!! :-)"
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| Parcours (click for enlargement) (image credit: Grote Prijs Sven Nys) |
For the first time this year, there will also be a women's race. With the unstoppable current cyclo cross World Champion Marianne Vos sitting this one out, the women may prove to deliver the most exciting competition of the day as they fight it out for the top step on the podium that suddenly becomes available to the rest of the pack whenever Vos is away. With a field including Hanka Kupfernagel, Sanne van Paassen, Sanne Cant, Helen Wyman and Daphny van den Brand, just about anything could happen.
The Novices begin at 10:00, Juniors at 11:00, Under-23s at 12:00, Elite Women at 13:45 and the Elite Men at 15:00 (all times are CET, GMT is -1 hour).
Parcours details: The start line is located on the Moorsemsestraat and heads slightly uphill towards the west before reaching the first off road section, looping into a field before crossing Balenbergstraatje and heading into the main site and north, then west through a series of tight bends back to the road. A short section of tarmac precedes a right turn that leads past the pits and onto a track into the forest, then back onto grass before another track heading back to the Balenbergstraatje. A longer section on the road ends at a left turn back onto grass and through a second visit to the pits, then over a bridge crossing the route they've already taken and through a long forest section followed by more grass before the riders arrive back on the Moorsemsestraat for another lap.
Official GP Sven Nys site
Official GVA Trofee site
Elite Men live stream available from Sports-Livez
Starters
Elite Men
1 - NYS, Sven
2 - ALBERT, Niels
3 - PAUWELS, Kevin
4 - STYBAR, Zdenek
5 - VANTORNOUT, Klaas
6 - AERNOUTS, Bart
7 - WALSLEBEN, Philipp
8 - WELLENS, Bart
9 - KNEGT, Gerben De
10 - MEEUSEN, Tom
11 - VANTHOURENHOUT, Dieter
12 - PEETERS, Rob
13 - GIL, Mariusz
14 - PAGE, Jonathan
15 - ADAMS, Joeri
16 - BAESTAENS, Vincent
17 - ZLAMALIK, Martin
18 - AMERONGEN, Thijs Van
19 - SIMUNEK, Radomir
20 - IJZENDOORN, Eddy Van
21 - FRANZOI, Enrico
22 - AERNOUTS, Jim
23 - BIANCO, Marco
24 - VANTHOURENHOUT, Sven
25 - COMPERNOLLE, Kenneth Van
26 - DENUWELAERE, Jan
27 - BOSCH, Tom Van Den
28 - CANT, Kevin
29 - HUYS, Stijn
30 - TIELENS, Jimmy
31 - GAUDY, Patrick
32 - MURGOITIO, Egoitz
33 - DERNIES, Tom
34 - SPRUIT, John
35 - PIROTTE, Jo
36 - MEDHURST, Darryn
37 - HOFMAN, Bart
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| Can Sven Nys win the race that is named in his honour for an eleventh time? (image credit: DarkSideX CC BY-SA 3.0) |
1 - KUPFERNAGEL, Hanka
2 - PAASSEN, Sanne Van
3 - CANT, Sanne
4 - WYMAN, Helen
5 - BRAND, Daphny Van Den
6 - HAVLIKOVA, Pavla
7 - BOER, Sophie De
8 - HARRIS, Nikki
9 - RIJEN, Linda Van
10 - DAY, Gabriella
11 - DOMBROSKI, Amy
12 - ZWICK, Martina
13 - HORMES RAVENSTIJN, Reza
14 - VANDERBEKEN, Joyce
15 - BIE LEYTEN, Nicolle De
16 - VARDAROS, Christine
Registered
17 - GODART, Suzie
18 - KUIJPERS, Evy
19 - LOY, Ellen Van
20 - BOBER, Nancy
21 - FERRAND PREVOT, Pauline
22 - MICHIELS, Githa
23 - NOBUS, Anja
24 - HAYE, Caitlyn La
25 - QUINTENS, Hilde
Under-23/Promises
1 - HAAR, Lars Van Der2 - BOSMANS, Wietse
3 - EISING, Tijmen
4 - TEUNISSEN, Mike
5 - BRAET, Vinnie
6 - HANSEN, Kenneth
7 - EMPEL, Micki Van
8 - POEL, David Van Der
9 - BODEN, Stef
10 - JOUFFROY, Arnaud
11 - TIER, Floris De
12 - KESSEL, Corne Van
13 - CLERCQ, Angelo De
14 - VERMEERSCH, Gianni
15 - PEIJFFERS, Ilja
16 - TURSI, Loris
17 - MELLEMANS, Jeffrey
18 - RISBOURG, Raf
19 - MAYER, Yannick
20 - WESTWOOD, Lee
21 - BARKHUIS, Bart
22 - DALTON, Bruce
23 - KOYEN, Niels
24 - VERBERNE, Douwe
25 - CANT, Jelle
26 - LASTRA, Jonathan
27 - RODRIGUEZ GUEDE, Pablo
28 - UYTDEWILLIGEN, Ingmar
29 - COBBAERT, Robby
30 - LACROIX, Dany
31 - REGOST, Elie
32 - AERTS, Toon
33 - CLAES, Jorn
34 - HOFMAN, Joeri
35 - MEURISSE, Xandro
36 - HAYE, Rutger La
Juniors
1 - PEETERS, Brent
2 - DUPONT, Kevin
3 - VANHERREWEGHEN, Jelle
4 - PROOST, Kyle De
5 - COOLEN, Yves
6 - SPRUYT, Joren
7 - TICHELT, Yorbin Van
8 - LENS, Glenn
9 - DRIES, Jelle Vanden
10 - VERHEYEN, Onno
11 - HUYGEN, Tijs
12 - BAKX, Marvin
13 - DESSEL, Kenneth Van
14 - JAEGER, Gilles De
15 - COUSSENS, Dieter
16 - TICHELEN, Stijn Van
17 - WIJKEL, Stan
18 - SCHEIRE, Nicolas
19 - COUCKUYT, Jens
20 - VEROFT, Jelto
21 - CELEN, Dennis
22 - WOUTERS, Toon
23 - LEAERTS, Yelle
Novices
1 - DONINK, Gianni Van
2 - BEULLENS, Cedric
3 - JACOBS, Johan
4 - GOOSSENS, Kobe
5 - ANDERIES, Jordi
6 - EECKMAN, Bert
7 - BONE, Tommie
8 - GULICKX, Max
9 - KLOECK, Dario
10 - VERBEECK, Glenn
11 - CROLLET, Yari
12 - DEVOS, Han
13 - HASSELT, Lennert Van
14 - JACOBS, Sybren
15 - ABE, Jonas
16 - DIJKE, Koen Van
17 - LEONARD, Sylvain
18 - HAES, Jorden De
19 - ISERBYT, Eli
20 - CALUWE, Stijn
21 - VISSER, Thomas
22 - PALM, Eva
23 - PALM, Martin
24 - VERBRAKEN, Jorn
25 - BAKX, Kelvin
26 - TIBACKX, Lawrence
27 - AERTS, Thijs
28 - JOSEPH, Thomas
29 - TEIRLINCK, Jens
30 - SIEMONS, Stijn
31 - ROOSTHUYSE, Alex Van
32 - SCHUERMANS, Jelle
33 - RILLAER, Silke Van
34 - SMETS, Gert
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