Alaphilippe upsets dominant Dutchmen for win

A surprising name topped the podium after the junior men's race in Zolder, Belgium. Juan Alaphilippe won the third World Cup round of the season, making the French rider a man to watch in the future. Two Dutch riders flanked Alaphilippe on the podium.

The Netherlands has been dominating the overall standings in the World Cup and can claim the first four spots. World Cup leader Gert-Jan Bosman finished only 10th in Zolder, but he remains in the overall lead.

Dutchman Mike Teunissen led the race early on, and after one lap he had a small gap over compatriots Danny Van Poppel, David Van Der Poel, Belgian Gianni Vermeersch and Alaphilippe. World Cup leader Bosman was not having his best day. The Dutch rider fought his way through the first half of the race out of the top 15.

Meanwhile, the surprising Alaphilippe stormed forward during the second lap, catching leader Teunissen. Behind the two leaders, Van Poppel had to let go of Vermeersch and Van Der Poel, and Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) took over his place.

Sweeck kept going strong and after three laps, he joined the two leaders. The Belgian didn't have much time to enjoy his time up front because halfway through the race, Alaphilippe jumped away from the two Belgians.

Another Dutchman, Emiel Dolfsma, bounced back from a bad start. Dolfsma bridged up with Teunissen, Van Der Poel and Belgians Sweeck and Jens Adams, but the five chasers didn't stand a chance against Alaphilippe who created a 25-second gap over the chasers. The French rider maintained his lead on the slippery course and bagged the biggest win of his career.

Behind him, Adams and Dolfsma were dropped in the final laps making a three-man chase group sprint for second place. The Dutch duo held off Sweeck and captured the remaing two podium spots, Van Der Poel finished second ahead of Teunissen.

World Cup leader Bosman made the best of his difficult times around the course, and he finished 10th, which was enough to keep his overall lead. Halfway through the World Cup, the Dutch men sit comfortably with four riders atop the rankings.

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Juan Alaphilippe (France)0:40:02
2David Van Der Poel (Netherlands)0:00:36
3Mike Teunissen (Netherlands)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Laurens Sweeck (Belgium)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic)0:00:41
6Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands)0:00:43
7Tim Merlier (Belgium)0:00:46
8Jens Adams (Belgium)0:00:48
9Matej Lasak (Czech Republic)0:00:49
10Gert-Jan Bosman (Netherlands)0:01:04
11Jens Vandekinderen (Belgium)0:01:07
12David Menut (France)0:01:10
13Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium)0:01:11
14Michael Boros (Czech Republic)0:01:13
15Frederik Geerts (Belgium)0:01:25
16Bart De Vocht (Belgium)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Rudy Lorenzon (Italy)0:01:26
18Vojtech Nipl (Czech Republic)0:01:43
19Yannick Eckmann (Germany)0:01:46
20Andrea Righettini (Italy)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Wenzel Böhm-Gräber (Germany)0:01:48
22Joeri Hofman (Belgium)0:01:59
23Radek Polnicky (Czech Republic)0:02:05
24Lars Forster (Switzerland)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Lukas Müller (Switzerland)0:02:11
26Emilien Viennet (France)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Danny Van Poppel (Netherlands)0:02:12
28Hendrik Sweeck (Belgium)0:02:21
29Julian Lehmann (Germany)0:02:32
30Floris De Tier (Belgium)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Daniel Vesely (Czech Republic)0:02:48
32Fabian Lienhard (Switzerland)0:03:10
33Skyler Trujillo (United States Of America)0:03:12
34Maxim Panis (Belgium)0:04:09
35Emiel Dolfsma (Netherlands)0:04:11
36Dylan Page (Switzerland)0:04:13
37David Kessler (United States Of America)0:04:28
38Gabriel Chavanne (Switzerland)0:04:32
39Karl Hoppner (Canada)0:04:35
40Tobias Deprie (Germany)0:04:36
41Daniel Mclay (Great Britain)0:05:07
42Bartosz Pilis (Poland)0:05:08
43Chris Wallace (United States Of America)0:05:22
44Jeff Bahnson (United States Of America)0:05:52
45Jaroslav Chalas (Slovakia)0:06:25
46Joshua Lehmann (United States Of America)0:07:52
DNFDiether Sweeck (Belgium)Row 46 - Cell 2
DNFMatt Spinks (United States Of America)Row 47 - Cell 2
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World Cup standings after four rounds
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Luca Gert-Jan Bosman (Netherlands)132pts
2David Van Der Poel (Netherlands)103Row 1 - Cell 3
3Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands)102Row 2 - Cell 3
4Mike Teunissen (Netherlands)97Row 3 - Cell 3
5Jens Vandekinderen (Belgium)90Row 4 - Cell 3
6Emilien Viennet (France)80Row 5 - Cell 3
7Matej Lasak (Czech Republic)76Row 6 - Cell 3
8Laurens Sweeck (Belgium)76Row 7 - Cell 3
9Jens Adams (Belgium)69Row 8 - Cell 3
10Emiel Dolfsma (Netherlands)68Row 9 - Cell 3
11Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic)65Row 10 - Cell 3
12Juan Alaphilippe (France)60Row 11 - Cell 3
13David Menut (France)56Row 12 - Cell 3
14Michael Boros (Czech Republic)54Row 13 - Cell 3
15Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium)54Row 14 - Cell 3
16Bart De Vocht (Belgium)50Row 15 - Cell 3
17Vojtech Nipl (Czech Republic)44Row 16 - Cell 3
18Danny Van Poppel (Netherlands)41Row 17 - Cell 3
19Tim Merlier (Belgium)40Row 18 - Cell 3
20Radek Polnicky (Czech Republic)37Row 19 - Cell 3
21Fabio Alfonso Todaro (Italy)35Row 20 - Cell 3
22Frederik Geerts (Belgium)34Row 21 - Cell 3
23Lukas Müller (Switzerland)31Row 22 - Cell 3
24Andrea Righettini (Italy)29Row 23 - Cell 3
25Diether Sweeck (Belgium)28Row 24 - Cell 3
26Rudy Lorenzon (Italy)27Row 25 - Cell 3
27Michael Casagrande (Italy)16Row 26 - Cell 3
28Joeri Hofman (Belgium)15Row 27 - Cell 3
29Xandro Meurisse (Belgium)14Row 28 - Cell 3
30Wenzel Böhm-Gräber (Germany)13Row 29 - Cell 3
31Lars Forster (Switzerland)13Row 30 - Cell 3
32Yannick Eckmann (Germany)12Row 31 - Cell 3
33Floris De Tier (Belgium)10Row 32 - Cell 3
34Andrea Sottocornola (Italy)7Row 33 - Cell 3
35Dries Heylen (Belgium)5Row 34 - Cell 3
36Lorenzo Samparisi (Italy)5Row 35 - Cell 3
37Clément Venturini (France)4Row 36 - Cell 3
38Jakub Skala (Czech Republic)4Row 37 - Cell 3
39Hendrik Sweeck (Belgium)3Row 38 - Cell 3
40Francesco Acqvaviva (Italy)3Row 39 - Cell 3
41Julian Lehmann (Germany)3Row 40 - Cell 3
42Jannick Geisler (Germany)2Row 41 - Cell 3
43Enrico Scapolan (Italy)2Row 42 - Cell 3
44Luca Guerrini (Italy)1Row 43 - Cell 3

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