Bosmans wins U23 World Cup at Koksijde

Image 1 of 6

Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) sprinted faster than Michiel van der Heijden (Netherlands) in the third round of the under-23 cyclo-cross World Cup in the dunes of Koksijde, Belgium. The Belgian champion stopped the Dutchman’s remarkable comeback in the rain as he fought his way back out of a beaten position. Wout Van Aert (Belgium) grabbed the final podium spot, 14 seconds behind the winner.

After crossing the finish line, Bosmans released a primal scream. “I was content,” Bosmans smiled. “It was in my favour that he probably lost a lot of energy in the first half of the race.”

Bosmans featured in the five-man leading group that distanced the rest of the field on the second of seven laps. He was joined by compatriots Wout Van Aert (Belgium), Michael Vanthourenhout (Belgium), Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) and World Cup leader Mike Teunissen (Netherlands). The latter crashed out of this group in the third lap but compatriot Corné van Kessel (Netherlands) took over his place in front.

At that stage in the race, Van der Heijden was still trying to make up for his poor starting position, riding outside the top 10. During the following two laps the Dutchman got into his rhythm and started making up ground and he surged towards the leaders. “It was tough because many riders were making mistakes ahead of me. Moving up was hard too because there’s only a few tracks to follow. Suddenly there was more space and I quickly bridged up to the leaders. By then I had shot my bolt,” Van der Heijden told Cyclingnews.

“During the first few laps we weren’t going too hard so I knew some guys would return from behind,” Bosmans commented. “When I saw Michiel I attacked to make it harder for him. In the last lap he still managed to get ahead of me and even gap me twice but eventually I was with him at the finish line,” Bosmans said.

The Dutchman played all or nothing in the last lap in an effort to get rid of Bosmans. “I didn’t have anything left for the sprint,” Van der Heijden said. The Belgian easily came around Van der Heijden to grab his second World Cup win of the season.

In the World Cup standings, Bosmans leads Van Aert by 46 points and four more over Van Kessel. Van der Heijden is only thirteenth as this was his first World Cup race of the season, taking a break after his successful MTB season in which he won the World Cup and captured silver at the world championships.