The Dutch national team are in a prime position to sweep up the rainbow jerseys offered at the upcoming UCI Cyclocross World Championships held on home soil in Hoogerheide from February 3-5.
The obvious favourites include Mathieu van der Poel in the elite men’s race and Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse in the elite women’s race, but the 37-rider national team is expected to dominate across all seven categories.
National team coach Gerben de Knegt believes that Van der Poel will be the big trump card for the team that also includes Lars van der Haar, Pim Ronhaar, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Ryan Kamp, Mees Hendrikx and Corné van Kessel.
Van der Poel has already stated that he fancies his chances for the world title win in Hoogerheide over his Belgian rival. Van der Poel won four elite cyclocross world titles in 2015 and 2019-2021, while Van Aert won three elite cyclocross world titles in 2016-2018.
“Everyone is looking forward to a nice duel between Mathieu and Wout van Aert [Belgium] on a course that is expected to be a bit muddy and, therefore, not too fast. I especially hope for a fair fight without bad luck. If it becomes a tactical joust, there may be more hijackers on the coast. Mathieu will go for nothing less than the win,” De Knegt said.
Fem van Empel and Pieterse will lead a powerful elite women’s team that includes her former world champions Lucinda Brand and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, along with Denise Betsema, Inge van der Heijden, Annemarie Worst and Aniek van Alphen.
Even in the absence of eight-time cyclocross world champion Marianne Vos, who was sidelined from defending her title due to pelvic artery constriction that has prevented her from competing at her best this season, the elite women’s team could feasable sweep the podium.
The cycling world was treated to fierce competition between 20-year-old talents Van Empel and Pieterse, who have raced for their respective (and rival) trade teams during the World Cup series.
Van Empel took top honours in the series, winning seven rounds in Waterloo, Fayetteville, Tabor, Maasmechelen, Antwerpen, Dublin, and Benidorm. Pieterse was her nearest rival, runner-up in the series with wins at Overijse, Hulst, Val di Sole and Besançon.
“It was still difficult to select for the women in the end because we are so strong there in terms of depth,” said de Knegt. “For the last place, I still had to choose between Aniek van Alphen and Manon Bakker. Although Manon has certainly also shown good things this season, the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…