Van Der Haar dominates in Tabor

Image 1 of 29

U23 world champion Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) lived up to the high expectations by dominating the first round espoir men's World Cup in Tabor.

Halfway through the race Van der Haar distanced Elia Silvestri (Italy) and then went on to build up a huge lead over the competition at the finish line. Silvestri barely managed to hold off Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) for second place. US rider Zach McDonald (Rapha Focus) finished tenth in Tabor.

Van der Haar simply crushed the opposition in Tabor. Silvestri did all he could to follow the Dutch rider who recently won Cross Vegas in the USA. Behind the leading duo a group of thirteen riders battled for third place. McDonald was among this group and in the third lap he set up a breakaway attempt together with Belgians Vinnie Braet and Wietse Bosmans.

While the leaders had a gap of half a minute, the trio was reeled back in by the other chasers during the fourth lap. In front Silvestri realized it wasn’t possible to stay with Van der Haar and the Italian took his foot from the gas. Silvestri quickly lost 15 seconds on Van der Haar but kept the same gap on the other chasers.

In that chase group, home rider Jan Nesvadba sneaked away, once again with Belgians Braet and Bosmans but also this attempt failed.

During the final laps Van der Haar simply extended his lead while Silvestri was starting to lose ground on the large chase group. Teunissen stormed forward in the penultimate lap together with Bosmans, Braet, Nipl Vojtech (Czech Republic), Gert-Jan Bosman (Netherlands) and McDonald.

Van der Haar eased off in the end and simply captured the win. Silvestri had just enough left in his tank to hold on to his second place. The battle for third place was won by Teunissen, just ahead of Bosmans and Arnaud Grand (Switzerland). McDonald was in the mix for third place all race long but lost ground in the final lap, finishing tenth.

Full results

U23 Men - World Cup standings after 1 round