Bosmans wins in Zolder

Wietse Bosmans (Belgium) won his first World Cup round of the season in Zolder in a two-man sprint in the men’s Under 23 category race ahead of Tijmen Eising (Netherlands). Mathieu Boulo (France) rounded out the podium at the snow-covered Belgian car circuit. World Cup leader Vincent Baestaens finished sixth, which was just enough to hold a five-point lead over Bosmans in the World Cup rankings.

Early on, Baestaens was present in a large leading group together with Elia Silvestri (Italy), Arnaud Grand (France), Jim Aernouts (Belgium), Boulo, Bosmans and Eising. Boulo put the hammer down on the second lap. The French rider built up a small gap over Bosmans, Eising, Baestaens and Aernouts.

Only Bosmans and Eising were able to bridge up with Boulo while the others started struggling on the slippery course. Bosmans felt great and dropped his two rivals during the fourth lap. Eising and Boulo followed at five seconds from the lone leader. On the penultimate lap, Bosmans gained a couple more seconds over Eising, who had left Boulo behind. Silvestri and Van der Haar rode together 16 seconds behind Boulo. During the last lap, Bosmans almost saw his chances ruined when he went over the handlebars. Eising caught back up to the leader and the two headed for a sprint, which was easily won by Bosmans, who turns 19 on December 30.

Daniel Summerhill (USA) claimed his best result of the season in a World Cup round by finishing in 13th position. Zach McDonald (USA) went faster during the second half of the race, but a last lap crash limited him to 17th position.

Full Results