Bosman leads Dutch domination

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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.

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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.

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