Lars van der Haar wins elite men's Trek CX Cup

Image 1 of 11

Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) took the Trek CX Cup C1 win in Waterloo, Wisconsin on Friday. The Dutchman narrowly took the win by three seconds ahead of Daan Soete (Deschacht-Hens-Maes) and five seconds ahead of David Menut (AS Bike Racing).

While Van der Haar and Soete broke free from a pack of 10 riders on the last lap, Menut had to hold off a group of three to secure a spot on the podium. Toon Vandebosch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) followed for fourth, Timon Ruegg (Cross Team Legendre) in fifth and Thijs Aerts (Baloise Trek Lions) in sixth.

Michael Boros (Elkov Kasper Czech Cycling) claimed seventh place ahead of the top-placed US rider, Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation).

The men's race took advantage of the dry conditions to set a fierce pace, the field of 56 riders strung out along the twisting course after just the second lap, and gusty winds causing riders to work hard under sunny skies.

“Everybody was looking at me. So I just waited for my time. I wanted to go at the penultimate lap, however somebody else went. So, I had to go all out for the last lap. Luckily it was just enough," Van der Haar told Cyclingnews at the finish.

Van der Haar, the elite men’s European cyclco-cross champion, charged down the pavement to take the holeshot in the men’s C1 contest. On his back wheel followed teammate Aerts and Alpecin's Vandebosch.

Van der Haar continued to be the aggressor at the front of the race, pushing the accelerator with several laps under 5:40. By the midpoint of the race, the Dutch rider had two companions, Soete and Ruegg. The chase behind was led by Vandebosch, Boros, Menut, Lander Loockx (Deschacht-Hens-Maes), Aerts and White.

With four laps to go,Tom Meeusen (Descchact-Hens-Maes) joined the fray. White was the first to launch an attack after the first flyover which created chaos in the group of 10.

On the penultimate lap Boros took a charge at the front, which caused Loockx and Meeusen to fall off the pace. On the long off-camber section headed to Factory Hill, Menut took the lead ahead of Aerts, Soete, Vandebosch, Van der Haar, Ruegg and White.

It was on this lap that Van der Haar said wanted to go, but the pace was high and he waited for the final lap. Again, headed to Factory Hill on the las half of the bell lap, Van der Haar and Soete went clear. It was Van der Haar who soared across the final flyover into the lead and took his first win of the season.

A field of 50 riders will line up on Sunday in Waterloo for the opening World Cup contest of the 14-event schedule. While most of the elite riders will round out a two-race World Cup tour in the US in Fayetteville, Arkansas on October 16, Friday's C1 winner will fly home to the Netherlands after the Wisconsin doubleheader to be with his family.

“I’m not doing next week [Fayetteville World Cup]. I’m going home already on Monday, so I didn’t want to leave my wife any longer alone. We had a daughter,” Van der Haar said about his recently-expanded family. “The jet lag coming back from Fayetteville is a lot harder than from Chicago.”