Bosman leads Dutch domination

Gert-Jan Bosman (Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team) finished off the blistering performance of the Dutch team in the second round of the World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium on Saturday morning. Bosman was the first across the line as the Dutch swept the first five places. World Cup leader and European champion Lars van der Haar (Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team) was fourth and remains leader. Belgians Wietse Bosmans (BKCP-Powerplus) and Vinnie Braet (Sunweb-Revor) ended up at the wrong side of the big group, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.

“It’s good to win again. I knew the form was good and that this course suited me well so I’m glad it finally delivered. We [Dutch riders] didn’t talk with each other but you could tell we were riding with rather than against each other,” Bosman said.

Stan Godrie (Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team) led the race after the first lap. The first-year U23 rider was then joined by a big group that included Bosman, Van der Haar, Micki van Empel (Telenet-Fidea), Mike Teunissen (Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team), Belgians Bosmans and Braet. Originally Arnaud Jouffroy, Arnaud Grand (Switzerland), Diether Sweeck (Belgium) and David van der Poel (Netherlands) featured in this lead group as well.

Pre-race favourite Van der Haar explained that he didn’t have a good day and didn’t manage to create a further selection. “I felt it when I ran. Usually you blast through the sand and then you have a gap but I didn’t have it today. I wasn’t well warmed up because we had to park so far away, had a fire in the camper, and were forced to stay in the box for 15 minutes. That didn’t help,” Van der Haar said.

Despite a few accelerations, Van der Haar realized that if the Dutch wanted to win he had to play it smart. “I dropped back into fourth place with Wietse [Bosmans] behind me. I didn’t want to risk that a late crash would ruin it for us,” Van der Haar said. Bosman profited the most from the Dutch tactics and he blasted up the finishing straight with a small gap on his four compatriots.

The American participants were unable to leave their mark in Koksijde, however. Luke Keough (Champions System – Keough Cyclocross) had a great start and rode in fifth place early on before he crashed out and quit the race. Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus) was seventeenth. “I’m 17th now. I know what to do to crack the top 10 here at the world championships. It’s sandy. I had an average start, no complaints about that. You have to ride smart on this course. There’s no space to pass because you end up in the deep sand. It’s better to ride smooth than fast,” McDonald told Cyclingnews. Cody Kaiser (California - Giant) barely managed to stay within the same lap as the leaders and finished 52nd.

Van der Haar now leads the World Cup with 100 points. Bosman (84 points) and Teunissen (80 points) are second and third. Bosmans is the first non-Dutch rider in fourth place with 70 points. McDonalds drops a spot from tenth to eleventh with his 36 points.

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) Netherlands0:52:41
2Stan Godrie (Ned) Netherlands0:00:05
3Micki Van Empel (Ned) Netherlands0:00:07
4Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Netherlands0:00:11
5Mike Teunissen (Ned) NetherlandsRow 4 - Cell 2
6Wietse Bosmans (Bel) Belgium0:00:12
7Vinnie Braet (Bel) Belgium0:00:13
8Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) NetherlandsRow 7 - Cell 2
9Jens Adams (Bel) Belgium0:00:26
10Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) France0:00:36
11Arnaud Grand (Swi) Switzerland0:00:39
12Marek Konwa (Pol) Poland0:00:40
13Karel Hnik (Cze) Czech Republic0:00:41
14Tim Merlier (Bel) Belgium0:00:57
15Diether Sweeck (Bel) Belgium0:01:00
16Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) France0:01:02
17Zach Mcdonald (USA) United States0:01:15
18Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Belgium0:01:16
19Stef Boden (Bel) Belgium-B0:01:49
20Kenneth Hansen (Den) Denmark0:01:53
21Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Belgium-B0:02:20
22Floris De Tier (Bel) Belgium-B0:02:24
23Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Czech Republic0:02:29
24Lars Forster (Swi) Switzerland0:02:37
25Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Belgium-B0:02:53
26Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Czech Republic0:03:01
27Elia Silvestri (Ita) Italy0:03:15
28Jakub Skala (Cze) Czech Republic0:03:23
29David Van Der Poel (Ned) Netherlands0:03:25
30Igor Smarzaro (Ita) Italy0:03:33
31Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Belgium-B0:03:36
32David Menut (Fra) FranceRow 31 - Cell 2
33Camille Thominet (Fra) France0:04:08
34Emil Arvid Olsen (Den) Denmark0:04:13
35Max Walsleben (Ger) Germany0:04:28
36Vincent Dias Dos Santos (Lux) Luxembourg0:04:30
37Michael Wildhaber (Swi) Switzerland0:04:32
38Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Germany0:04:33
39Clément Venturini (Fra) France0:04:36
40Jonas Pedersen (Den) Denmark0:04:37
41Vojtech Nipl (Cze) Czech Republic0:04:44
42Bastien Duculty (Fra) France0:04:47
43Inigo Gomez Elorriaga (Spa) Spain0:05:20
44Jon Gomez Elorriaga (Spa) Spain0:05:26
45Michael (Jr) Schweizer (Ger) Germany0:05:39
46Toon Aerts (Bel) Belgium-B0:05:48
47Steven James (GBr) Great Britain0:06:00
48Michel Vuelta Izquierdo (Spa) Spain0:06:26
49Domenico Maria Salviani (Ita) ItalyRow 48 - Cell 2
50Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Czech Republic0:06:33
51Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) Spain0:06:37
52Cody Kaiser (USA) United States0:06:44
53Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Spain0:07:01
54Julian Lehmann (Ger) Germany- 1 lap
55Constantin Liebenow (Ger) Germany- 1 lap
56Jack Clarkson (GBr) Great Britain- 1 lap
57Patryk Kostecki (Pol) Poland- 1 lap
58Lex Reichling (Lux) Luxembourg- 1 lap
59Matis Preimanis (Lat) Latvia- 2 laps
60Luke Gray (GBr) Great Britain- 2 laps
61Scott Thiltges (Lux) Luxembourg- 2 laps
62Bartosz Pilis (Pol) Poland- 2 laps
63Tom Schwarmes (Lux) Luxembourg- 2 laps
64Andrew Hargroves (GBr) Great Britain- 3 laps
65Domas Manikas (Ltu) Lithuania- 3 laps
66Jaroslav Chalas (Svk) Slovakia- 3 laps
67Wojciech Malec (Pol) Poland- 3 laps
68Marek Michalec (Svk) Slovakia- 3 laps
69Sebastian Mlynski (Pol) Poland- 4 laps
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World Cup standings
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Netherlands100pts
2Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) Netherlands84Row 1 - Cell 3
3Mike Teunissen (Ned) Netherlands80Row 2 - Cell 3
4Wietse Bosmans (Bel) Belgium70Row 3 - Cell 3
5Stan Godrie (Ned) Netherlands65Row 4 - Cell 3
6Micki Van Empel (Ned) Netherlands59Row 5 - Cell 3
7Arnaud Grand (Swi) Switzerland55Row 6 - Cell 3
8Elia Silvestri (Ita) Italy54Row 7 - Cell 3
9Vinnie Braet (Bel) Belgium54Row 8 - Cell 3
10Karel Hnik (Cze) Czech Republic37Row 9 - Cell 3
11Zach Mcdonald (USA) United States36Row 10 - Cell 3
12David Van Der Poel (Ned) Netherlands32Row 11 - Cell 3
13Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Belgium31Row 12 - Cell 3
14Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) France31Row 13 - Cell 3
15Vojtech Nipl (Cze) Czech Republic28Row 14 - Cell 3
16Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Czech Republic28Row 15 - Cell 3
17Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Netherlands26Row 16 - Cell 3
18Tim Merlier (Bel) Belgium26Row 17 - Cell 3
19Jens Adams (Bel) Belgium24Row 18 - Cell 3
20Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) France22Row 19 - Cell 3
21Marek Konwa (Pol) Poland19Row 20 - Cell 3
22Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Czech Republic18Row 21 - Cell 3
23Tijmen Eising (Ned) Netherlands17Row 22 - Cell 3
24Diether Sweeck (Bel) Belgium16Row 23 - Cell 3
25Kenneth Hansen (Den) Denmark15Row 24 - Cell 3
26Stef Boden (Bel) Belgium12Row 25 - Cell 3
27Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Czech Republic12Row 26 - Cell 3
28Yannick Mayer (Ger) Germany11Row 27 - Cell 3
29Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Belgium10Row 28 - Cell 3
30Luca Braidot (Ita) Italy10Row 29 - Cell 3
31Floris De Tier (Bel) Belgium9Row 30 - Cell 3
32Igor Smarzaro (Ita) Italy9Row 31 - Cell 3
33Lars Forster (Swi) Switzerland7Row 32 - Cell 3
34Radek Polnicky (Cze) Czech Republic7Row 33 - Cell 3
35Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Belgium6Row 34 - Cell 3
36Sven Beelen (Bel) Belgium6Row 35 - Cell 3
37Michael Boros (Cze) Czech Republic5Row 36 - Cell 3
38Jakub Skala (Cze) Czech Republic4Row 37 - Cell 3
39Bryan Falaschi (Ita) Italy3Row 38 - Cell 3
40Michael Schweizer (Ger) Germany2Row 39 - Cell 3

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