On the extremely fast course in Heusden-Zolder in the Netherlands, local hero and World Cup leader Lars van der Haar (Rabobank) emerged victorious in the fifth Cyclocross World Cup of the season. Although the Dutchman is only 21 years old, he drove with the cleverness of a seasoned driver. During the course of the race, he initially countered every advance that seemed dangerous to him, only to then attack himself in the end and secure victory in the sprint. Behind Van der Haar, Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah) took second place on the day ahead of Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus).
In the first lap, Marcel Meisen (Kwadro-Stannah) from Aachen broke away from the field after the start. His escape didn't last long, however, because the group that was to determine the race until the end was already formed at the end of the first lap. In the meantime, some drivers, including world champion Sven Nys (Crelan-KDL) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus), managed to make contact with the leading group, but they had nothing to do with the outcome of the race.
In addition to Van der Haar, who was in good shape despite his fall at the World Cup in Namur, Stybar was particularly active. In his first World Cup participation this season, the ex-world champion drove aggressively from the start. However, he did not succeed in breaking away decisively from his fellow combatants. At the beginning of the last round, the German champion sought his salvation by fleeing. Only the named podium riders were able to follow his increased pace. A few hundred meters from the finish, they managed to overtake Walsleben on one of the pieces of asphalt. Then Van der Haar used the last passage for his decisive attack.
In the women's race, World Cup leader Katie Compton (Trek) managed to catch up with the two front runners Marianne Vos (Rabobank) and Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) after a slow start with three laps to go. After that, it only took one lap before the American tried to decide with a full start. Although Vos was initially able to answer Compton's advance, in the end the world champion had just as few answers as the rest of the competition. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ridley-Shimano) finished 3th as the best German, 17:16 minutes behind.
If you missed the two races, you can watch them again here.
//Result men
1. Lars van der Haar (Rabobank) 1:02:45
2. Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah) 0:00:02
3. Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:03
4. Philipp Walsleben (BKCP Powerplus) 0:00:03
5. Rob Peeters (Telenet Fidea) 0:00:05
//Result women
1. Katie Compton (Trek) 0:38:43
2. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) 0:00:20
3. Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) 0:00:55
4. Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) 0:01:29
5. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (Focus) 0:01:31