Image 1 of 43 Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) wins the U-23 World Championship after last lap heroics (Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net) Image 2 of 43 Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) after finishing fourth (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 3 of 43 To say there was a lot of sand is an understatement (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 4 of 43 Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic) trying to stay upright (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 5 of 43 Stan Godrie (Netherlands) riding in the top 15 (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 6 of 43 Julian Alaphilippe (France) riding in the top 15 (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 7 of 43 Bryan Falaschi (Italy) leading a group down a descent (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 8 of 43 Belgians on the front of the race (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 9 of 43 U-23 Start on the pavement (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 10 of 43 U-23 front row (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 11 of 43 Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) racing in the top ten on a long sandy section (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 12 of 43 Jack Clarkson (Grat Britain) choosing to run rather than ride (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 13 of 43 Riders climbing with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 14 of 43 Arnaud Grand (Switzerland) pushing his bike with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 15 of 43 The leaders with two laps to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 16 of 43 Zach MacDonald (USA) riding a section that many ran (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 17 of 43 Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands) fighting to stay on his machine (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 18 of 43 Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) chasing Bosmans (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 19 of 43 Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) trying to fend off the eventual winner (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 20 of 43 Pilis Bartosz (Poland) racing near the back of the field (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 21 of 43 Bryan Falaschi (Italy) (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 22 of 43 Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) with rainbow stripes on his helmet and glasses (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 23 of 43 Cody Kaiser (USA) warming up before the race (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 24 of 43 Some riders were forced to use the barriers for balance (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 25 of 43 Zach MacDonald (USA) riding the deep sand (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 26 of 43 There were some strange descending styles on display in Koksijde (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 27 of 43 Fabian Lienhard (Switzerland) side-sliding down a descent (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 28 of 43 Arnaud Grand (Switzerlan) racing in the top ten (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 29 of 43 Marek Konwa (Poland) running in sixth place mid-race (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 30 of 43 Van Der Heijden (NED) leading Van Der Haar (NED) and Bosman (BEL) with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 31 of 43 Van Der Heijden (NED) leading Van Der Haar (NED) and Bosman (BEL) with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 32 of 43 Arnaud Jouffroy (France) attempting to bridge up to the leaders with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 33 of 43 Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) with one lap to go (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 34 of 43 The Belgians were burying themselves at the behest of the crowds (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 35 of 43 The crowds banged the barriers loudly anytime a Belgian rider was spotted (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 36 of 43 One of the colorful spectators (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 37 of 43 The Dutch fans were out in full force (Image credit: Dave McElwaine) Image 38 of 43 Arnaud Grand (Switzerland) (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 39 of 43 Arnaud Grand (Switzerland) (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 40 of 43 Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) through the sand (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 41 of 43 Sometimes it's just not your day (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 42 of 43 Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 43 of 43 Lars Van Der Haar (NED) celebrates his U-23 World Championship as Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) takes silver (Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net) The top guns in the Under 23 category made a true thriller out of their cyclo-cross world championships race in the dunes of Koksijde, Belgium. In the end defending champion Lars van der Haar (The Netherlands) popped out just ahead of Belgian champion Wietse Bosmans and Michiel van der Heijden (The Netherlands).
Full Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) 0:49:20 2 Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) 0:00:01 3 Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands) 0:00:04 4 Arnaud Jouffroy (France) 0:00:05 5 Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) 0:00:50 6 Marek Konwa (Poland) 0:00:56 7 Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) 0:01:03 8 Arnaud Grand (Switzerland) 0:01:13 9 David Menut (France) 10 Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) 0:01:28 11 Vinnie Braet (Belgium) 12 Zach Mcdonald (United States Of America) 0:01:48 13 David Van Der Poel (Netherlands) 0:01:55 14 Julian Alaphilippe (France) 0:02:04 15 Stan Godrie (Netherlands) 0:02:07 16 Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic) 0:02:08 17 Vojtech Nipl (Czech Republic) 0:02:17 18 Clément Venturini (France) 0:02:30 19 Elia Silvestri (Italy) 0:02:49 20 Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic) 0:02:50 21 Bryan Falaschi (Italy) 0:03:18 22 Karel Hnik (Czech Republic) 0:03:21 23 Michael (Jr) Schweizer (Germany) 0:03:22 24 Lars Forster (Switzerland) 0:03:39 25 Kenneth Hansen (Denmark) 0:03:42 26 Michael Vanthourenhout (Belgium) 0:04:04 27 Igor Smarzaro (Italy) 0:04:07 28 Micki Van Empel (Netherlands) 0:04:13 29 Yannick Eckmann (Germany) 0:04:14 30 Kenta Gallagher (Great Britain) 0:04:20 31 Max Walsleben (Germany) 0:04:22 32 Fabian Lienhard (Switzerland) 0:04:41 33 Michael Wildhaber (Switzerland) 34 Daniele Braidot (Italy) 0:05:44 35 Emil Arvid Olsen (Denmark) 0:05:50 -1lap Luca Braidot (Italy) -1lap Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spain) -1lap Cody Kaiser (United States Of America) -1lap Yannick Mayer (Germany) -1lap Jack Clarkson (Great Britain) -1lap Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain) -2laps Wojciech Malec (Poland) -2laps Jon Gomez Elorriaga (Spain) -2laps Patryk Kostecki (Poland) -3laps Inigo Gomez Elorriaga (Spain) -3laps Felix Coté Bouvette (Canada) -3laps Lex Reichling (Luxembourg) -3laps Ludwig Söderquist (Sweden) -3laps Bartosz Pilis (Poland) -3laps Jaroslav Chalas (Slovakia) -3laps Alexander Gehbauer (Austria) -3laps Luke Gray (Great Britain) -4laps Domas Manikas (Lithuania)
