Lars van der Haar rides solo to regain Dutch cyclo-cross national title
Van Kessel takes silver ahead of U23 World Cup leader Hendrikx
Lars van der Haar recaptured an evasive title at the Dutch Cyclo-cross National Championships on Sunday, taking a solo victory with an uncontested ride in Rucphen.
The battle for silver was a duel between 21-year-old Mees Hendrikx and veteran Corné van Kessel. The 30-year-old broke free of the current U23 World Cup leader on the final lap to finish second, leaving the bronze to Hendrikx.
Under bright sunshine the reigning European Champion broke a string of three consecutive runner-up finishes to Mathieu van der Poel, who pulled out of the Heusden-Zolder Superprestige, his second cyclo-cross race of the winter, due to a recurring back injury and discontinued his off-road season.
Van der Haar last won the Dutch title in back-to-back years, 2013 and 2014, then Van der Poel proved best for the next six editions. He broke free from all competitors after the first lap for solo laps on the course, unlike his World Cup win in Tabor earlier this season where he managed to distance World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Quinten Hermans (Tormans - Circus Cyclo Cross Team) by 11 and 15 seconds, respectively.
"I felt that I could really only lose here," Van der Haar reflected at the finish in his comments to Sporza.
"I was going to divide my race into sections. The last two rounds I was able to slow down a bit, just drive at my own pace. It was clear, I could see exactly where my competitors were driving."
Only the newly-crowned Dutch champion and Van Kessel will represent the Netherlands for the elite men at the World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the end of the month.
"I think I was actually better around the European Championship than today. I'm mainly training very hard now and focusing on the World [Championship]. Getting another jersey would be really special."
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Lars van der Haar | 1:02:05 |
2 | Corne van Kessel | 0:00:51 |
3 | Mees Hendrikx | 0:00:58 |
4 | Ryan Kamp | 0:01:23 |
5 | Pim Ronhaar | 0:02:17 |
6 | David van der Poel | |
7 | Stan Godrie | 0:03:06 |
8 | Danny van Lierop | 0:03:22 |
9 | Tibor del Grosso | |
10 | Luke Verburg | 0:04:07 |
11 | Bailey Groenendaal | |
12 | Gosse van der Meer | 0:05:16 |
13 | Klaas Groenen | 0:05:24 |
14 | Koen van Dijke | |
15 | Lucas Janssen | 0:05:50 |
16 | Hugo Kars | |
17 | Joost Brinkman | 0:06:35 |
18 | Joren Bloem | 0:07:42 |
19 | Salvador Alvarado | |
20 | Pete Uptegrove | |
21 | Gert-Jan Bosman | |
22 | Jardi Christiaan van der Lee | |
23 | Marco Ehlert | |
24 | Paul Snip | |
25 | Koen van Helvoirt | |
26 | Dylan Strik | |
27 | Marino Noordam | |
28 | Max Goris | |
29 | Bart de Veer | |
30 | Lucas Keuning | |
31 | Chris van Dijk | |
32 | Robin van Poppel | |
33 | Mike Bronswijk | |
34 | Omar Koudijs | |
35 | Lars van Ark | |
36 | James Potter | |
37 | Sam Oosterholt | |
38 | Sam Kerkvliet | |
39 | Niek Hoornsman | |
40 | Niels Verbruggen | |
41 | Menno van Capel | |
42 | Perry Wit | |
43 | Jesse Sytema | |
44 | Luuk Holslag | |
45 | Lars de Weerd | |
46 | Bas van der Burg | |
47 | Beau van Izerloo | |
48 | Vincent Fackeldey | |
49 | Hugo Jansen | |
50 | Jasir Kuiper | |
51 | Sam Errens | |
52 | Wessel Coppelmans | |
53 | Yoep van der Peet | |
54 | Stef Hendriks | |
55 | Lucas Brandt | |
56 | Jordi Steenbakkers | |
DNF | Mike Hooiveld | |
DNF | Dennis Brouwer | |
DNF | Twan van der Drift | |
DNF | Stef Ter Laak |
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