In Cyclocross World Cup, held in Iowa City, Belgian takes men’s title, American snags women’s.
By Pete Ruden
Spectators, food trucks, bikes, and mud were everywhere. And the Cyclocross World Cup races were just starting.
For the first time ever, the best racers in the cyclocross world were all locked in in Iowa City.
What was a tightly contested men’s race for the first few laps became a dominating performance by the No. 1 racer in the world, Wout Van Aert.
After suffering a broken toe in Las Vegas earlier in the week, Van Aert showed no negative effects, riding the fastest lap of the day by an entire nine seconds.
“My toe was not an issue to do with the performance today,” he said. “It was only a problem in the preparation.”
Even though he won the race by a huge margin, Van Aert wasn’t able to charge his way into the top 20 until the third lap. Fellow Belgian Laurens Sweeck had the lead for several laps until Van Aert surged to the front of the pack.
Once he pedaled into first place at the end of the sixth lap, he never looked back.
“I was trying to beat him, but it’s not so easy,” said Sweeck, who was also on the podium at the cyclocross event in Las Vegas. “I was trying to hurt him, and I think I hurt myself harder than I did him.”
On the seventh lap, Van Aert was a man on a mission, solidifying his first-place status, as no one was even close to within striking distance. His win in Iowa City kept him undefeated in the United States, after winning at CrossVegas just days before.
After a performance like that, it has many wondering — can Van Aert be beaten?
“We will see in the future,” Sweeck said.
On the women’s side, things were a little closer.
On the starting line, with fans yelling for her and USA chants all around, U.S. native Katie Compton was ready to go.
With Sophie De Boer, the woman who was ranked No. 1 in the World Cup standing to her side, it was going to be a big race.
After one lap, Czech Republic Olympian Katerina Nash was in the lead.
For a while, it looked like it was going to be a battle between Nash and Compton, as they were the lone two racers in the first pack on the third lap. Then the landscape of the race changed.
Nash had a mechanical problem early in the third lap, and Compton capitalized by gaining a lead that proved to be insurmountable. Nash was not be able to recover after that and did not place in the top five.
In the end, Compton, a 12-time national champion, added another win to her name, followed by Caroline Mani, a national champion of France and American Kaitlin Antonneau.
Like the racers, the cyclocross crowd was also impressive. Men’s silver medalist Kevin Pauwels said he was impressed by the audience because they were supporting everyone as well as being into the sport.
Van Aert also hopes there will be more races in the United States as the sport gets more popular.
“I hope [there will be more races in the United States,]” he said. “Maybe next year we can do even more races in Iowa.”
