Mathieu van der Poel (Elite Men) and Puck Pieterse (Elite Women) easily won their respective races in the final UCI World Cup event in Besançon, France on Sunday. The fast and dry course favored the strong, but it lacked the kinds of challenges that riders might face next week at the World Championships in Hoogerheide, NL. Weather next week in the Netherlands looks to be wetter in with temperatures around 8-9 Celcius.
Elite Men
Mathieu van der Poel led at the start of the nine lap race, but quickly slipped into the role of follower and waited for four laps before he launched an attack on the grassy straightaway leading to the climb. By the end of lap 4, Van der Poel had established a lead of 15 seconds while behind him Clément Venturini of France led the chasers and tried to close the gap. Over the next 4 laps, Van der Poel displayed great form as he powered away on the fast course. By the finish he had 49 seconds over 2nd place finisher, Laurens Sweeck, and Joris Nieuwenhuis, who finished third.
Elite Women
Puck Pieterse repeated her domination in the Elite Women’s race, aided by Fem van Empel’s choice not to participate in this final World Cup event. [note: Van Empel already had enough points after World Cup #13 in Benidorm, Spain to win the overall series]
While Pieterse didn’t get off to a good start when she dropped her chain on the first lap, she quickly caught up to the leaders and by lap 3 she was off on her own. Like Van der Poel, no one else appeared capable of catching Pieterse and by the finish she had 37 seconds on Annemarie Worst, who finished 2nd, and 43 seconds on Inge Van der Heijden, who placed 3rd.
Results
ELITE MEN
https://cyclocross24.com/race/12617/
ELITE WOMEN
