GVA Trofee: Oostmalle

Click to enlarge
(image credit:  WSC Oostmalle)

Bad news - Sunday the 19th of February brings the last big cyclo cross meet of the season. However, the upset is slightly lessened by the fact that it's the GVA Trofee at Oostmalle; one of the most twisty, turny, technical tracks to have ever felt the rough touch of a pair of Rhinos. There are some similarities between this parcours and the legendary Koksijde with some sections on runway and some on sand; but the terrain that characterises this race is woodland. The highest points just reach 29m, but with the lowest at 17m on a parcours 3km in length there are some steep ramps with a maximum gradient of around 6.7% in places.

From the start line (51°16'36.78"N 4°45'35.66"E) the riders have a 390m blast along the runway to start off,  then it ends abruptly with a sharp left onto sand, potentially shattering the lead of any rider who was fastest from the line and passing over the reins to those riders who can handle the technical sections. After 200m (look here for an old oak tree which, with its roots half exposed, looks as though it's trying to crawl away), the parcours again turns left and follows a track for a few metres , then turns left to travel past the "Publiekstent" (which is probably where you need to go if you want beer), through a tight V-shaped bend and onward to the pits. After turning right, riders dip briefly into woodland and negotiate a couple of tight left-hand turns, then emerge back onto the sand and follow the edge of the woods back past the runway.

Having followed the perimeter of the woods for 110mm, the riders duck back into the trees for a relatively uncomplicated and straight 100m back through to the sand on the other side and then turn left before the path leads into the woods again 20m later. The following section, just under half a kilometre in length, is entirely in the woods and features some tight bends, sharp corners and all the usual puncture risks that lurk within a forest environment. It comes out back onto sand, then after 23m it's left and back into the woods again. This section has fewer bends than the last, but climbs fairly steeply and then descends fast just before it spits the riders back out onto the sand and into some hairpins. Once through, they make a second pass of the pits and remain on sand as they follow the path around the north-western banks of the lake to a track.

After just a few metres on the track, the parcours leads back onto the sand in the opposite direction it came for around 45m, then turns sharply right into the woods once more. This final 475m is entirely forested and features several technical sections, including sharp corners hairpins and the always-amusing beams over which most riders will shoulder their bikes but those with the skills (or desire to show off) will bunnyhop (51°16'37.51"N 4°45'46.09"E). It emerges at the runway next to the VIP tent near the start line, where another lap begins. On the final lap, riders will sprint along the runway to the finish line located just before the first corner (51°16'28.03"N 4°45'47.98"E).

Altimetry (click for enlargement)

Programme: 10:00 Novices, 11:00 Juniors, 12:00 Under-23, 13:45 Elite Women, 15:00 Elite Men (CET)
Streams: Cycling Fans

Start Lists:
Elite Men

Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet)
Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus)
Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor)
Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step)
Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor)
Bart Aernouts (Rabobank)
Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus)
Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea)
Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank)
Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea)
Dieter Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Powerplus)
Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea)
Mariusz Gil (Baboco)
Jonathan Page (Planet Bike)
Joeri Adams (Telenet-Fidea)
Vincent Baestaens (Landbouwkrediet)
Martin Zlamalik (Sunweb-Revor_
Thijs Van Amerongen (AA Drink)
Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus)
Eddy Van Ijzendoorn AA drink
Enrico Franzoi (Selle Italia-Guerciotti)
Jim Aernouts (Sunweb-Revor)
Marco Bianco (Arcobaleno)
Sven Vanthourenhout (Landbouwkrediet)
Kenneth Van Compernolle (Style & Concept)
Jan Denuwelaere (Style & Concept)
Tom Van den Bosch (AA Drink)
Kevin Cant (Van Goethem)
Stijn Huys (Orange Babies Cycling Team)
Jimmy Tielens (DW Bikes)
Patrick Gaudy (Barracuda)

Elite Women

Hanka Kupfernagel (Stevens)
Sanne Van Paassen (Brainwash)
Sanne Cant (BKCP Powerplus)
Helen Wyman (Kona)
Daphny Van Den Brandt (AA Drink-Leontien.nl)
Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea)
Sophie De Boer (Telenet-Fidea)
Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea)
Linda Van Rijen (WV Eemland)
Gabriella Day (The Chainstay)
Amy Dombroski (Crank Brothers)
Martina Zwick (Abus Nutrixxion)
Reza Hormes Ravenstijn (Orange Babies Cycling Team)
Joyce Vanderbeken (Terheyde Cycling Team)
Nicolle De Bie-Leijten (Telenet-Fidea)
Christine Vardaros (Baboco)

Under-23

Lars Van der Haar (Rabo Offroad)
Wietse Bosmans (BKCP-Powerplus)
Tijmen Eising (Sunweb-Revor)
Mike Teunissen (Rabobank)
Vinnie Braet (Sunweb-Revor)
Kenneth Hansen (Haderslev Starup)
Micki Van Empel (Telenet-Fidea)
David Van der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus)
Stef Boden (Sunweb-Revor)
Arnaud Jouffroy (Telenet-Fidea)
Floris De Tier (Baboco)
Corne Van Kessel (Telenet-Fidea)
Angelo De Clercq (Sunweb-Revor)
Gianni Vermeersch (BKCP-Powerplus)

Superprestige Middelkerke and GP Heuts

Superprestige Middelkerke

Expect to see Belgian Kevin Pauwels ride like his life depends upon it in this one - he's the only man with a chance of taking Superprestige victory from his countryman Sven Nys, but he'll need a perfect ride in order to do so.

11:00 - Newcomers

11:45 - International Elite Women

12:45 - Juniors

14:15 - Under-23

16:00 - Elite Men

Elite Men

Niels Albert 

Sven Nys 

Zdenek Stybar 

Klaas Vantornout

Bart Wellens

Kevin Pauwels

Gerben De Knegt 

Bart Aernouts

Sven Vanthourenhout

Enrico Franzoi 

Dieter Vanthourenhout

Radomir Simunek 

Rob Peeters

Philip Walsleben

Martin Zlamalik  

Thijs Al  

Tom Meeusen

Jonathan Page 

Petr Dlask 

Jan Verstraeten

Eddy Van Yzerdoorn 

Thijs Van Amerongen  

Martin Bina  

Mariusz Gil  

Kenneth Van Compernolle

Jan Denuwelaere

Robert Gavenda  

Bram Smithz  

Tom Van den Bosch

Mitchell Heunders  

Under-23

Lars Van der Haar  

Joeri Adams

Arnaud Jouffroy 

Jim Aernouts

Vincent Bastaens

Petrus Lubomir 

Corne Van Kessel 

Stef Boden

Micky Van Empel  

Tijmen Eising  

Jiri Polnicky  

Wietse Bosmans 

Gianni Vermeersch 

Marek Konwa 

Twan Van den Brand  

David Van der Poel 

Marcel Meisen  

Gert-Jan Bosman  

Mike Teunissen 

Michiel Van der Heyden 

Emiel Dolfsma  

Emilien Viennet 

Lucas Muller  

Karel Hnik  

Newcomers, Juniors and Elite Women start lists not available (don't even get us started on why the Elite Men details are published and the Elite Women not).

GP Heuts

The race begins with a 205m sprint along the Stadionbaan (50°52'45.20"N 6° 0'8.57"E), a wide and hard-surfaced area which will encourage high speeds as riders jostle to take first place leading into the first lap. It then passes between two "hillocks" (according to the course guide - they look rather like building spoils) for 50m, a section that can become muddy but which may be frozen solid - transforming a sticky patch into one that could shake teeth loose. Next up comes 65m on grass leading to a 90 degree right onto a long hard-surface section of 518m - it's narrow enough to make overtaking difficult and any rider who gained the upper hand in the initial section will have the opportunity to turn it into a potentially race-winning lead here, possibly in the early stages of the race, but the pack will be in hot pursuit.

Helen Wyman - Britain's
greatest hope

Having turned right, 378m on rougher grass takes the riders over some rough ground and more grass, then over ditches and up to a narrow road - further opportunity for the rider who was fastest through the preceding technical section to extend their lead. 117m of tarmac leads back onto grass and a right turn once onto the grass, which will be slippery as early frost/snow begins to melt and then become worse once a few laps have churned things up a bit. 380m leads to the pits, then loops around to double back past some trees before turning through a left-handed loop, over a track and back onto the first field. It heads through a hedge before a wide right-handed loop on grass and back to the hedge, emerging briefly on the other side entering the woods. A track leads to a  ladder with 24 slippery, narrow, splintered wooden steps (if they can, many riders will probably take their chances running or even riding up the slope to the right of the steps - they look treacherous and, as if traction wasn't already an issue, the space between them will be filled with loose nut casings from the overhanging beech tree) and onward to a surfaced lane curving right for 50m.

Having turned right onto a mud track, which once again may be frozen solid, riders continue for 50m and then head left onto the grass to make a second pass of the pits before arriving at another mud track 126m later. Here, they turn left and follow it for 95m, then enter a technical 50m section with tight bends leading back to the start line. At the end of the final lap, they will continue past the start line towards the sports club building to the right of the parcours where the finish line is located (50°52'41.55"N 6° 0'12.70"E). The entire parcours is 2.56km in length.

Among the men, it's hard to see past Kevin Pauwels in this race. K-Pow has earned himself a deserved place among the very highest rank of the Elite Men this season; with Nys, Albert, Stybar and the other top dogs sitting this one out he may prove unchallenged. However, this is a parcours that could prove to be to Ian Field's liking - meaning that there's just an outside chance we could see British winners in both Elite races. Keep your fingers crossed and the Union Jack flying!

Saturday, 11th of February 2012
09.00 - Final phase construction course
12.00 - Free practice
15.00 - End of practice
15.30 - Track inspection

Sunday, 12th of February 2012
09.00 - Free practice
10.00 - Under-23
11.00 - Masters
12.00 - Elite Training
13.45 - Elite Women
14.45 - Honouring World Champions
15.00 - Elite Men
16.00 - Finish

Elite Men

01.	Kevin Pauwels	BEL	Sunweb Revor
02.	Bart Aernouts	BEL	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
03.	Francis Mourey	FRA	FDJ- Big Mat
04.	Lars van der Haar	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
05.	Phillip Walsleben	GER	BKCP - Powerplus
06.	Gerben De Knegt	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
07.	Jonathan Page	USA	Planet Bike
08.	Thijs Van Amerongen	NED	AA Drink Cycling Team
09.	Mike Teunissen	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
10.	Ben Berden	BEL	OPS ALE-Stoemper
11.	Thijs Al	NED	AA Drink Cycling Team
12.	Marco Bianco	ITA	L´Arcobaleno Carraro Team
13.	Ian Fields	GBR	CX Great Brittan
14.	Tijmen Eising	NED	Sunweb Revor
15.	Twan van den Brand	NED	Orange Babies
16.	Gert-Jan Bosman	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
17.	Micki van Empel	NED	Telenet Fidea Cycling Team
18.	Patrick van Leeuwen	NED	Orange Babies
19.	Eddy van IJzendoorn	NED	Orange Babies
20.	Niels Wubben	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
21.	David van der Poel	NED	BKCP - Powerplus
22.	Corné van Kessel	NED	Telenet Fidea Cycling Team
23.	Emiel Dolfsma	NED	Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team
24.	Dario Stäuble	SUI	CX Zwitserland
25.	Domas Manikas	LTU	DPA Cycling Team
26.	Talius Kalina	LTU	DPA Cycling Team
27.	Dimitriy Sorokin	LAT	DPA Cycling Team
28.	Bryan van den Hoek	NED	Maaslandster
29.	Kai Slenter	NED	Maaslandster
30.	Jordi Luisman	NED	CX Nederland
31.	Paul Schuurmans	NED	CX Nederland
32.	Bart Bakhuis	NED	CX Nederland

 
Elite Women

01.	Daphny van den Brand	NED	AA Drink Cycling Team
02.	Sanne Cant	BEL	BKCP - Powerplus
03.	Sanne van Paassen	NED	BrainWash Wielerploeg
04.	Nikki Harris	GBR	Young Telenet Fidea CT
05.	Helen Wyman	GBR	CX Groot Brittannie
06.	Sophie de Boer	NED	Young Telenet Fidea CT
07.	Sabrina Stultiens	NED	BrainWash Wielerploeg
08.	Arenda Grimberg	NED	CX Nederland
09.	Joyce Vanderbeken	BEL	Style & Concept CT
10.	Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn	NED	Orange Babies
11.	Nikoline Hansen	DEN	CX Denmark
12.	Nancy Bober	BEL	Style & Concept CT
13.	Tessa van Nieuwpoort	NED	Stevens Racing Team
14.	Margriet Helena Kloppenburg	DEN	CX Denmark
15.	Amy Dombroski	USA	CX USA
16.	Ellen van Loy	BEL	CX Belgie
17.	Lelde Ardava	LAT	DPA Cycling Team
18.	Marianne Alleleijn	NED	CX Nederland
19.	Evy Kuijpers	NED	CX Nederland
20.	Iris Ockeloen	NED	CX Nederland
21.	Yara Kastelijn	NED	CX Nederland
22.	Lotte Eikelenboom	NED	CX Nederland

Under-23

01.	Edwin Arts	Overloon	01/08/88
02.	Wouter Jaegers	Tilburg	09/09/85
03.	Guido Delnoije	Mechelen	28/08/91
04.	Hans Jongeling	Maarssen	03/12/78
05.	Jochem Koren	Bussum	02/07/83
06.	Peter Kraaijvanger	Utrecht	01/05/80
07.	Erik van Laar	Loenen (Gld)	07/11/79
08.	Edward Rietbergen	Maastricht	10/03/71
09.	Wesley Steekers	Noordwijkerhout	20/04/91
10.	Mike van Veelen	Arnhem	14/01/80
11.	Fred van Zanten	Arkel	07/05/75

Masters

01.	Maurijn Annink	Hengelo (Ov)	12/02/70
02.	Nils Ten Brinke	Apeldoorn	07/10/72
03.	Udo Janssen	Papendrecht	24/07/70
04.	Ton van Korven	Diessen	22/12/64
05.	Marti Maas	Geffen	25/03/66
06.	Hans Steekers	Noordwijkerhout	08/05/50

Koksijde CX World Championships Preview

Mud, rain, sand, possibly even snow:
Koksijde is unique in CX
(image credit: Alex Robbins CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

"@FieldyCX Ian Field
Bigger crowd watching practice today than at any event in the UK. It's going to be huge!"

There's nowhere quite like Koksijde. It's got the mixture of tarmac, grass and woodland that are epected of any cyclo cross course, but it has one unique feature - sand dunes.

If you've ever tried to ride a bike in sand, you'll know difficult it is. Shift your weight too much over the front wheel and it digs in, then you fall of. Too much weight over the rear wheel and digs in, sucking the strength right out of legs as you pedal harder to overcome the sucking effect, then more often than not you fall off. Get the balance just right and the sand still sucks the strength out of your legs. Try to go round a corner and everything's fine - just kidding! You fall off. Well, that's what happens in dry sand, at any rate; it's much worse when it's wet. Which it usually is on the very westernmost tip of Belgium.

Since cycling is unique among sports in that fans aren't really happy unless they get to see their heroes suffer, this make Koksijde one of the most popular courses in cyclo cross; and that's why it's been chosen as the location of the 2012 UCI World Cyclo Cross Championships, to be held this weekend.  More good news for spectators is that it's been raining heavily for much of the week and though Friday is expected to be dry, more rain on Saturday should mean a nice, soggy parcours - and, best of all, there's a chance of snow on Sunday.

If Vos doesn't like sand, she
might only be 75% as good
as she usually is. That may
still prove too strong for
the rest.

Likely winners? As ever, it's very difficult to see any of the women getting the better of Marianne Vos. The 24-year-old Dutch champion quite literally dominated the final round of the World Cup last weekend, powering away from the start line and never looking back. However, it's the opinion of your beloved author that while Vos is a phenomenally talented rider on all terrain (including road and track), sand is not the one she likes best - she lost by 13" to Daphny van den Brand here in Round 3 of the World Cup. Whether she dislikes it enough for it to make the slightest bit of difference is as of yet unknown. Van den Brand, who won the World Cup, will undoubtedly want to do well - she's planning this season to be her last, and retiring a both World Champion and Cup holder would be a glorious end to a glorious career. Katie Compton will be worth keeping an eye on, too - she won here in 2010 and has been having a decent season.

Among the men? Sven Nys. He's won here multiple times in the past, the last time being the November World Cup round; but he also won all the World Cup rounds here from 2005 to 2007 - and took his first victory among the dunes right back in 1999. He missed out on the World Cup and could only manage sixth at the last round on a parcours that looked suited to him - finally taking the Worlds title would be more than sufficient consolation for that; but is it evidence, perhaps, that he's due to be the next victim of the virus?

Sven Nys
(image credit: DarkSideX
CC BY-SA 3.0)

Zdenek Stybar and Niels Albert look set to be his greatest challenge - Stybar won here in 2009, Albert last year. Kevin Pauwels finished just a second behind Nys on this very course in November but stormed his way through much of the rest of the World Cup. Still a relative newcomer to the upper echelons of the sport in comparison to Nys and Albert, there could be no better way of confirming himself as the new king of cyclo cross than taking both the Cup and the Championship.

Britain's best hopes
Helen Wyman and Ian Field are the best chances Britain has of a World Champion. Helen is by far our best chance: she came 6th here during the World Cup race back in November, has been British Champion for the last seven consecutive years and says that she has been working towards improving her starts - the long, straight sprint away from the start line is likely to give her an advantage in the early part of the race. Nikki Harris was seventh in November and is likely to also do well in this race. Gabby Day was tenth, but is still recovering from the respiratory virus that many cyclo cross riders have suffered this season and will not be racing. This isn't the ideal parcours for Ian - he was 22nd here in November - but he's far more experienced on this unique track that either Jody Crawforth or Paul Oldham.

The Parcours
The start line is situated on the runway just south of the hangars at 51° 5'54.20"N 2°38'38.78"E and leads into a 280m slightly downhill straight section to ensure a fast start before the first turning, to the right and onto grass. Around 150m later, riders cross a narrow track and enter the woods for the first time and, beginning to climb, turn left and right into a paved track. After 90m, they will leave the track and enter a technical forest section which, in the wet, will be very slippery.

Once out of the trees, the parcours follows the boundary of the forest for 100m before turning sharply left and arriving at the pits. Two preserved aircraft - a Hawker Hunter and a Sikorsky helicopter, both bearing Belgian insignia, can be seen from this section. A right turn then leads into a 165m sand dune section (51° 6'9.41"N 2°38'32.56"E) and onto a bridge.  Having crossed the grass on the other side, riders turn left and head over Robert Vandammestraat and into a 218m section characterised by scrubby trees and shrubs - the sort of terrain also known as puncture country - then come to a paved track and follow it as it bends to the left for around 85m. They then turn right onto short grass, cross three tracks and arrive at a smaller sandy section.

Once through the sand and over another track, they arrive back at the bridge and cross into the same 165m sandy section as earlier. They follow a similar path through it, exit where they previously entered and turn left for a second visit to the pits. After turning right to follow the edge of the forest, they turn right again past houses and come to a road where they turn right again to sprint for 90m, then left off the road and into a 100m sandy section and, having ridden through a short wooded section, arrive at another road where they can sprint for 130m before reaching more grass. They cross a ditch and, after 130m on grass, head downhill arrive back at the starting point. The entire parcours is 2.89km in length.

Please note: More than 32,000 tickets have been sold, meaning there will be none available to buy at the event. Please don't waste money by showing up if you don't already have tickets!

Races start: Juniors Saturday 11:00, Under-23 Saturday 15:00, Elite Women Sunday 11:00, Elite Men Sunday 15:00 (all times CET, GMT is -1)

Streams: Sports-Livez are providing live stream of all races, including Juniors and Under-23.

STARTERS

Elite Women

  1    GRIMBERG, Arenda NL
  2    BOER, Sophie De NL
  3    STULTIENS, Sabrina NL
  4    BRAND, Daphny Van Den NL
  5    PAASSEN, Sanne Van NL
  6    RIJEN, Linda Van NL
  7    VOS, Marianne NL
  8    BRUCHMANN, Gesa GER
  9    SCHWEIZER, Sabrina GER
  10    CHAINEL-LEFEVRE, Lucie FRA
  11    MANI, Caroline FRA
  12    HAVLIKOVA, Pavla CZE
  13    MIKULASKOVA, Martina CZE
  14    NASH, Katerina CZE
  15    DAY, Gabriella GBR
  16    HARRIS, Nikki GBR
  17    LAST, Annie GBR
  18    WYMAN, Helen GBR
  19    ANTONNEAU, Kaitlin USA
  20    COMPTON, Katherine USA
  21    DOMBROSKI, Amy USA
  22    DUKE, Nicole USA
  23    MILLER, Meredith USA
  24    GAMONAL, Rocio ESP
  25    ACHERMANN, Jasmin SWI
  26    HENZELIN, Lise-marie SWI
  27    MAURER, Sabrina SWI
  28    CANT, Sanne BEL
  29    QUINTENS, Hilde BEL
  30    VANDERBEKEN, Joyce BEL
  31    ARZUFFI, Alice Maria ITA
  32    INNERHOFER, Julia ITA
  33    LECHNER, Eva ITA
  34    ROSSI, Vania ITA
  35    SCANDOLARA, Valentina ITA
  36    ERLANDSSON, Asa Maria SVE
  37    SNIHS, Kajsa SVE
  38    MAJERUS, Christine LUX
  39    WASIUK, Olga POL
  40    WHITSON, Genevieve NZ
  41    ARDAVE, Lelde LAT
  42    FURMANE, Madara LAT
  43    HANSEN, Nikoline DEN
  44    MIYAUCHI, Sakiko JAP
  45    TOYOOKA, Ayako JAP


Elite Men

  1    DLASK, Petr CZE
  2    KYZIVAT, Vladimir CZE 
  3    POLNICKY, Jiri CZE
  4    SIMUNEK, Radomir CZE
  5    STYBAR, Zdenek CZE
  6    ZLAMALIK, Martin CZE
  7    AERNOUTS, Bart BEL
  8    ALBERT, Niels BEL
  9    MEEUSEN, Tom BEL
  10    NYS, Sven BEL
  11    PAUWELS, Kevin BEL
  12    PEETERS, Rob BEL
  13    VANTORNOUT, Klaas BEL
  14    BOULO, Matthieu FRA
  15    BOURGOIN, Clement FRA
  16    CHAINEL, Steve FRA
  17    DUVAL, Aurelien FRA
  18    GADRET, John FRA
  19    MOUREY, Francis FRA
  20    MEISEN, Marcel GER
  21    PFINGSTEN, Christoph GER
  22    WALSLEBEN, Philipp GER
  23    WEBER, Sascha GER
  24    DRISCOLL, James USA
  25    JOHNSON, Tim USA
  26    JONES, Chris USA
  27    PAGE, Jonathan USA
  28    POWERS, Jeremy USA
  29    TREBON, Ryan USA
  30    RAMOS, Jose VEN
  31    HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ, Aitor ESP
  32    MURGOITIO, Egoitz ESP
  33    RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ, Javier ESP
  34    SUAREZ, Isaac ESP
  35    KNEGT, Gerben De NL
  36    HUENDERS, Mitchell NL
  37    AMERONGEN, Thijs Van NL
  38    BRAND, Twan Van Den NL
  39    WUBBEN, Niels NL
  40    DARVELL, Magnus SVE
  41    CRAWFORTH, Jody GBR
  42    FIELD, Ian GBR
  43    OLDHAM, Paul GBR
  44    BARENYI, Milan SLO
  45    GAVENDA, Robert SLO
  46    HARING, Martin SLO
  47    METLICKA, Vaclav SLO
  48    HEULE, Christian SUI
  49    TARAMARCAZ, Julien SUI
  50    WILDHABER, Marcel SUI
  51    ZAHNER, Simon SUI
  52    BIANCO, Marco ITA
  53    COMINELLI, Christian ITA
  54    DAMIANI, Luca ITA
  55    FRANZOI, Enrico ITA
  56    TABACCHI, Mirko ITA
  57    GIL, Mariusz POL
  58    RICHEY, Craig CAN
  59    TAKENOUCHI, Yu JAP
  60    TSUJIURA, Keichi JAP
  61    BAUSCH, Gusty LUX
  62    HELMIG, Christian LUX
  63    GEHBAUER, Robert OST
  64    GEISMAYR, Daniel OST
  65    GOLLINGER, Karl Heinz OST
  66    LEWIS, Rattray NZ
  67    QUIST, David Andrew NOR
  68    SOROKINS, Dimitriy LAT
  69    YILDIRIM, Hakan TUR


Under-23

  1    GODRIE, Stan NL
  2    TEUNISSEN, Mike NL
  3    HAAR, Lars Van Der NL
  4    HEIJDEN, Michiel Van Der NL
  5    POEL, David Van Der NL
  6    EMPEL, Micki Van NL
  7    BOSMANS, Wietse BEL
  8    BRAET, Vinnie BEL
  9    SWEECK, Laurens BEL
  10    VANTHOURENHOUT, Michael
  11    VERMEERSCH, Gianni BEL
  12    ALAPHILIPPE, Julian FRA
  13    BOUVARD, Kevin FRA
  14    JOUFFROY, Arnaud FRA
  15    MENUT, David FRA
  16    VENTURINI, Clément FRA
  17    HNIK, Karel CZE
  18    NESVADBA, Jan CZE
  19    VOJTECH, Nipl CZE
  20    PAPRSTKA, Tomas CZE
  21    POLNICKY, Radek CZE
  22    FORSTER, Lars SUI
  23    GRAND, Arnaud SUI
  24    LIENHARD, Fabian SUI
  25    WILDHABER, Michael SUI
  26    ECKMANN, Yannick GER
  27    MAYER, Yannick GER
  28    SCHWEIZER, Michael GER
  29    WALSLEBEN, Max GER
  30    KAISER, Cody USA
  31    MCDONALD, Zach USA
  32    BRAIDOT, Daniele ITA
  33    BRAIDOT, Luca ITA
  34    FALASCHI, Bryan ITA
  35    SILVESTRI, Elia ITA
  36    SMARZARO, Igor ITA
  37    KONWA, Marek POL
  38    KOSTECKI, Patryk POL
  39    MALEC, Wojciech POL
  40    PILIS, Bartosz POL
  41    GÓMEZ, Iñigo ESP
  42    GOMEZ, Jon ESP
  43    LASTRA, Jonathan ESP
  44    RODRIGUEZ GUEDE, Pablo ESP
  45    CLARKSON, Jack GBR
  46    GALLAGHER, Kenta GBR
  47    GRAY, Luke GBR
  48    JAMES, Steven GBR
  49    SANTOS, Vincent Dias Dos LUX
  50    REICHLING, Lex LUX
  51    HANSEN, Kenneth DEN
  52    OLSEN, Emil Arvid DEN
  53    GEHBAUER, Alexander OST
  54    SÖDERQVIST, Ludwig SVE
  55    CÔTE-BOUVETTE, Félix CAN
  56    CHALAS, Jaroslav SLO
  57    MANIKAS, Domas LIT
  58    PREMANIS, Matiss LAT

Juniors

  1    JAUREGUI, Quentin FRA

  2    KORETZKY, Victor FRA

  3    KOWALSKI, Dylan FRA

  4    SEIGLE, Romain FRA

  5    TURGIS, Anthony FRA

  6    HERMANS, Quinten BEL

  7    HOEYBERGHS, Daan BEL

  8    SOETE, Daan BEL

  9    AERT, Wout Van BEL

  10    TICHELT, Yorbin Van BEL

  11    FRISCHKNECHT, Andri SUI

  12    GRAB, Dominic SUI

  13    ZUMSTEIN, Dominic SUI

  14    BREZNA, Jan CZE

  15    POKORNY, Karel CZE

  16    VASTL, Jan CZE

  17    DRUMM, Felix GER

  18    HERKLOTZ, Silvio GER

  19    KÖNIG, Marco GER

  20    MÜLLER, Steffen GER

  21    SIEMERMANN, Johannes GER

  22    ARIESEN, Tim NL

  23    BUDDING, Martijn NL

  24    BEEK, Pjotr Van NL

  25    POEL, Mathieu Van Der NL

  26    WEIJERS, Koen NL

  27    WIJKEL, Stan NL

  28    MOSES, Joseph GBR

  29    ROBINSON, Hugo GBR

  30    WELBURN, Alex GBR

  31    BERTOLINI, Gioele ITA

  32    COLLEDANI, Nadir ITA

  33    NICOLA, Luca De ITA

  34    PEDANTE, Francesco ITA

  35    REDAELLI, Riccardo ITA

  36    DILLMAN, Andrew GBR

  37    GORRY, Richard USA

  38    ORTENBLAD, Tobin USA

  39    OWEN, Logan USA

  40    WHITE, Curtis USA

  41    BEAUDOIN, Samuel CAN

  42    PATRY, Yohan CAN

  43    GRABIS, Mateusz POL

  44    KONWA, Piotr POL

  45    LIS, Tobiasz POL

  46    PALUTA, Michal POL

  47    PATRYK, Stosz POL

  48    FRITSCH, Sven POL

  49    CAMPO, Jaime ESP

  50    RIBERA, Jose Manuel ESP

  51    SUAREZ FERNANDEZ, Kevin ESP

  52    GLAZJA, Ondrej SLO

  53    VOZAR, Simon SLO

  54    NAKAI, Michimasa JAP

  55    SAWADA, Toki JAP

  56    YOKOYAMA, Kota JAP

  57    LINDE, Emil SVE

  58    WAHLQVIST, Dennis SVE

  59    BAIKSTYS, Zigymantas LIT

Hoogerheide CX World Cup Preview

This Sunday (22.01.12) brings us the final round of the 2012 Cyclo Cross World Cup, to be held in the North Brabant village of Hoogerheide - a community with a long history of hosting CX events as it's home to the GP Adri van der Poel and, in 2009, the World Championship which took place on this very course (though small modifications have been made for this weekend's event). This is a village with a serious love of the sport, even by Dutch and Belgian standards, and they know how to celebrate it. With 283 riders signed up to race in five classes - including current World Champions Zdenek Stybar and Marianne Vos, the race guarantees plenty of action and will be accompanied by the usual beer, chips, sausages and other good things that are on offer at Dutch and Belgian cyclo cross events.

Click for enlargement

The parcours is 2,646km in length with a good mix of surfaces: 67% is grassy pastureland - some mown and some rough, 18% tarmac or paved and 15% is woodland. Organisers have asked competitors and the public to stay off the route until official training on Saturday afternoon, but they say it rained heavily on Thursday and, according to AccuWeather, showers are expected on Friday and Saturday with heavier rain on Saturday night; so it ought to be a good muddy race. There's a possibility of light showers on Sunday, but other sites predict no rain and even sun - near perfect conditions for spectators.

The start line (51°25'33.80"N 4°19'9.13"E) is on Scheldeweg, some 160m north of the crossing with Onderstat, then the route follows the road south over a bridge, then through trees until taking a turn left into the field behind the graveyard, then turn right back to Scheldeweg and across into the field on the other side of the road where the VIP tent and pits will be located (51°25'19.51"N  4°19'13.71"E). A couple of tight loops then take it west to the woods where a short section of trail leads to a track at the edge of the trees. After a few metres, it heads back into the woods - the latter part of the trail traverses a slope descending towards the west, which means that if the rain has been sufficiently heavy to shift soil and leaves, this section may be extremely slippery and a likely spot for crashes.

The route continues north to the far edge where it comes out into more pastureland. Immediately to the west of the field - on the riders' left as they enter - the topography drops to sea level. This will cause rainwater nd mud to run down the slope, creating another section with the potential to become slippery. Three tight hairpins in the field lead into a short straight section heading south back into the woods the riders just left, where they'll pass through a technical section with several tricky corners and a brief loop into the field, then back into the trees for more technical stuff and by-pass a sculpture that resembles the framework of a Mongolian yurt hidden among the trees. Having emerged a short while later, they cross the field and head back towards the pits.

After heading along the eastern edge of the field for a short while, they turn left and head towards the public hospitality (and beer) tent (51°25'24.63"N 4°19'9.87"E) and pass through a short and non-technical woodland section to arrive at the next field. An initial straight section across the grass leads to another hairpin before the parcours heads over a track and into another short wooded section with two tight bends, then back onto the field (this side of the field is likely to be less slippery than the other) and through a hedge before reaching a paved road. This heads north for a short way, then loops back on itself to return to the hedge and enters a technical series of hairpins prior to a final straight section heading north before rejoining the Schledeweg just south of the start line for another lap. On the final lap, riders will complete the same route, then head south along Scheldeweg for approximately 280m to the finish line (51°25'23.88"N 4°19'12.62"E) which will be located by the left turn into the field by the graveyard.

As tends to be the way in this part of the world, the entire parcours is at low altitude with the highest part only just topping 20m, whereas the lowest - in the field just north of the main wooded section - are only around 8m above sea level. However, that gives us 12m to play with and there are some short, steep ramps along the way - however, unless the route gets really wet, they should all be ridable with one or two exceptions and so we can expect a very fast race with little need for riders to shoulder their bikes. The organisers have provided a very useful 3D profile, which can be viewed here.

The Beginners race starts at 09:00, the Juniors at 10:00, Under-23s at 11:10, Elite Women at 13:30 and Elite  Men at 15:00 (all times CET, -1hr for GMT). The awards ceremonies will be held close to the finish line on Scheldeweg (51°25'23.10"N 4°19'13.63"E) roughly five minutes after each race - Juniors from 10:45-10:55, U-23 12:05-12:14, Elite Women 14:15-14:45 and Elite Men 16:10-16:20.

Further details: Tickets are available for €8 in advance from Primera Niels Elzakker at 122 Raadhuisstraat in Hoogerheide (51°25'25.35"N 4°19'24.47"E) or will be on sale at the entry points marked on the map for €10 on Sunday.

Sports-Livez will, as usual, be streaming the Elite Men race live online and Live Televisie are streaming the Elite Women.

Official Site

STARTERS (Subject to change)


Elite Men

World Champion Zdenek Stybar
(image credit: Kid For Today CC BY-SA 3.0)

1 STYBAR Zdenek OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP
2 SIMUNEK Radomir BKCP - POWERPLUS
3 DLASK Petr MADETA FITNESS / SPECIALIZED
4 ZLAMALIK Martin KDL TRANS
5 KYZIVAT Vladimir
6 POLNICKY Jiri WHIRLPOOL - AUTHOR
7 BAMBULA Ondrej
8 NYS Sven LANDBOUWKREDIET
9 PAUWELS Kevin SUNWEB - REVOR
10 VANTORNOUT Klaas SUNWEB - REVOR
11 ALBERT Niels BKCP - POWERPLUS
12 MEEUSEN Tom TELENET - FIDEA
13 AERNOUTS Bart RABOBANK - GIANT OFF-ROAD TEAM
14 PEETERS Rob TELENET - FIDEA
15 VANTHOURENHOUT Dieter BKCP - POWERPLUS
16 VANTHOURENHOUT Sven LANDBOUWKREDIET
17 DENUWELAERE Jan STYLE & CONCEPT (Sub)
18 VAN COMPERNOLLE Kenneth STYLE & CONCEPT (Sub)
19 DUVAL Aurelien
20 MOUREY Francis FDJ-BIG MAT
21 CHAINEL Steve FDJ-BIG MAT
22 BOULO Matthieu ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE
23 BOURGOIN Clément
24 PFINGSTEN Christoph CYCLINGTEAM DE RIJKE
25 WALSLEBEN Philippe BKCP - POWERPLUS
26 MEISEN Marcel BKCP - POWERPLUS
27 WEBER Sascha
28 SICKMUELLER Johannes FEENSTRA STEVENS BIKE TEAM
29 QUAST Ole
30 POWERS Jeremy TEAM RAPHA FOCUS
31 TREBON Ryan LTS / FELT
32 JOHNSON Timothy CANNONDALE / CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM
33 PAGE Jonathan PLANET BIKE
34 DRISCOLL James CANNONDALE / CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM

British Champion Ian Field
(image credit: Roleur Magazine)

35 JONES Christopher TEAM RAPHA FOCUS
36 SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Isaac
37 RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ Javier
38 DE KNEGT Gerben RABOBANK - GIANT OFF-ROAD TEAM
39 VAN AMERONGEN Thijs AA DRINK - LEONTIEN.NL CYCLING TEAM
40 AL Thijs AA DRINK - LEONTIEN.NL CYCLING TEAM
41 VAN DEN BRAND Twan ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM
42 WUBBEN Niels RABOBANK - GIANT OFF-ROAD TEAM
43 VAN LEEUWEN Patrick ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM
44 HUENDERS Mitchell
45 VAN IJZENDOORN Eddy ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM
46 HEREIJGERS Kobus ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM (Sub)
47 LUISMAN Jordy (Sub)
48 DARVELL Magnus
49 FIELD Ian HARGROVES CYCLES
50 TARAMARCAZ Julien BMC MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM
51 HEULE Christian CANNONDALE / CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM
52 WILDHABER Marcel SCOTT - SWISSPOWER MTB - RACING
53 ZAHNER Simon
54 FRANZOI Enrico SELLE ITALIA GUERCIOTTI
55 COMINELLI Cristian TX ACTIVE BIANCHI
56  GIL Mariusz BABOCO CYCLING TEAM
57 CICHOSZ Marek
58 RICHEY Craig
59 TAKENOUCHI Yu
60 TSUJIURA Keiichi TEAM BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR
61 BAUSCH Gusty
62 HELMIG Christian
63 PARBO Joachim
64 SOROKIN Dimitriy
65 RATTRAY Lewis


Elite Women

World Champion Marianne Vos
(image credit: Nicola CC BY-SA 3.0)

1 VOS Marianne STICHTING RABO WOMEN CYCLING TEAM
2 VAN DEN BRAND Daphny AA DRINK - LEONTIEN.NL CYCLING TEAM
3 VAN PAASSEN Sanne BRAINWASH WIELERPLOEG
4 DE BOER Sophie TELENET - FIDEA
5 STULTIENS Sabrina BRAINWASH WIELERPLOEG
6 GRIMBERG Arenda
7 VAN RIJEN Linda SKIL - KOGA
8 HORMES Reza ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM
9 VAN NIEUWPOORT Tessa
10 KALVENHAAR Annefleur GIANT DEALERTEAMS
11 VERBERNE Lana (Sub)
12 KUIJPERS Evy (Sub)
13 KUPFERNAGEL Hanka
14 SCHWEIZER Sabrina
15 BRUCHMANN Gesa
16 CHAINEL-LEFEVRE Lucie
17 MANI Caroline
18 KRASNIAK Julie TEAM RAPHA FOCUS
19 MOREL PETITGIRARD Marlène
20 MIKULASKOVA Martina
21 NASH Katerina LUNA PRO TEAM
22 HAVLIKOVA Pavla TELENET - FIDEA

23 WYMAN Helen KONA FACTORY RACING
24 HARRIS Nikki TELENET - FIDEA
25 DAY Gabriella

British Champion Helen Wyman

26 LAST Annie
27 COMPTON Katherine RABOBANK - GIANT OFF-ROAD TEAM
28 MILLER Meredith CALIFORNIA GIANT CYCLING
29 ANTONNEAU Kaitlin CANNONDALE / CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM
30 DOMBROSKI Amy CRANKBROTHERS - THE RACE CLUB
31 DUKE Nicole CANNONDALE / CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM
32 SMITH Andrea
33 VARDAROS Christine BABOCO CYCLING TEAM
34 ACHERMANN Jasmin
35 HENZELIN Lise-Marie
36 MAURER Sabrina
37 CANT Sanne BOXX VELDRITACADEMIE
38 VANDERBEKEN Joyce
39 QUINTENS Hilde
40 DE BIE - LEYTEN Nicole TELENET - FIDEA
41 BOBER Nancy STYLE & CONCEPT
42 THIJS Katrien
43 VAN DE STEENE Kim
44 MICHIELS Githa TREK - KMC TRADE TEAM VZW
45 ROSSI Vania
46 ARZUFFI Alice Maria
47 SCANDOLARA Valentina S.C. MICHELA FANINI ROX
48 ERLANDSSON Asa Maria
49 SNIHS Kajsa
50 MAJERUS Christine
51 WASIUK Olga
52 FURMANE Madara
53 ARDAVE Lelde
54 HANSEN Nikoline
55 KLOPPENBURG Margriet Helena
56 TOYOOKA Ayako
57 MIYAUCHI Sakiko

Under-23

1 VAN DER HAAR Lars

2 TEUNISSEN Mike

3 GODRIE Stan

4 BOSMAN Gert-Jan

5 VAN EMPEL Micki

6 VAN DER POEL David

7 VAN DER HEIJDEN Michiel

8 N EISING Tijmen (Sub)

9 VAN KESSEL Corne (Sub)

10 NCh BOSMANS Wietse

11 N BRAET Vinnie

12 VANTHOURENHOUT Michael

13 MERLIER Tim

14 VERMEERSCH Gianni

15 SWEECK Laurens

16 ADAMS Jens (Sub)

17 SWEECK Diether (Sub)

18 ALAPHILIPPE Julian

19 VENTURINI Clément

20 JOUFFROY Arnaud

21 MENUT David

22 BOUVARD Kévin

23 THOMINET Camille

24 NIPL Vojtech

25 NESVADBA Jan

26 PAPRSTKA Tomas 

27 HNIK Karel

28 POLNICKY Radek

29 SKALA Jakub

30 PETRUS Lubomir (Sub)

31 BOROS Michael (Sub)

32 LIENHARD Fabian

33 GRAND Arnaud

34 FORSTER Lars

35 WILDHABER Michael

36 SCHWEIZER Michael

37 MAYER Yannick

38 WALSLEBEN Max

39 ECKMANN Yannick

40 GEISLER Jannick

41 MCDONALD Zach

42 KAISER Cody

43 SILVESTRI

44 BRAIDOT Luca

45 KONWA Marek

46 PILIS Bartosz

47 KOSTECKI Patryk

48 MALEC Wojciech

49 GOMEZ ELORRIAGA Inigo

50 GOMEZ ELORRIAGA Jon

51 HIDALGO GARCIA David

52 VUELTA IZQUIERDO Michel

53 JAMES Steven

54 GALLAGHER Kenta

55 GRAY Luke

56 CLARKSON Jack

57 DIAS DOS SANTOS Vincent

58 REICHLING Lex

59 HANSEN Kenneth

60 PEDERSEN Jonas

61 OLSEN Emil Arvid

62 SÖDERQVIST Ludwig

63 KALINA Talius

64 MANIKAS Domas

65 COTÉ BOUVETTE Felix

66 ORANGE Kiernan

67 EISING Tijmen

68 VAN KESSEL Corne

69 DOLFSMA Emiel

70 VERBERNE Douwe