The kerstperiode diaries: 2

All images: Tonke Berg

Christmas Day came and went and the sting of two full days without cyclocross was somewhat eased by the sheer volume of turkey, gravy, cheese and chocolate that was available for consumption - in my house, in any case. After two restful days, both fans and riders were ready to dive back into the mud, and with four races over the following five days, we would not be short of talking points - some of which I will attempt to round up for you in this latest instalment of the kerstperiode* diaries.

*kerstperiode = from Dutch, meaning 'Christmas period' - otherwise known as 'Crossmas'!

UCI World Cup Gavere (26 December)

After a couple of days off to enjoy the festive season, the riders were back to business as usual in Gavere for the 7th round of the cyclocross World Cup.

While in-form Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado chose to sit out, to avoid overload over the busy Christmas period, the rest of the elite women's field was present and correct, including Fem van Empel; the world champion returning following a break from racing due to a knee injury.

Characteristically, Marie Schreiber was the first rider into the lead, but she couldn't make it stick, van Empel keeping the young Luxembourger in check and passing her shortly into lap 1. She was closely followed by her old rival Puck Pieterse, and for the first time in the 2024 season we saw the pair of young Dutch women away and clear at the front of a cyclocross race.

Behind the leading duo, Zoe Bäckstedt was once again riding well, with Blanka Vas and Lucinda Brand the other riders in the chase. The course itself was heavy going, slippery, and featured some difficult off-camber sections. Into lap 2, and the duels intensified, both in front and in the pursuing group, with Vas and Brand coming shoulder to shoulder, and beginning to lose Bäckstedt as the lap wore on. By the end of the lap van Empel had asserted her dominance, putting more time into Pieterse and heading over the finish line 15 seconds clear. Another 15 seconds behind Pieterse, Brand and Vas remained locked together in the battle for third.

Across lap 3 van Empel continued to charge away, and though Pieterse was able to capitalise on the steep, technical descent where van Empel opted to exercise caution, the balance of power remained very much in the hands of the world champ. Behind, Vas used the same downhill section to pass Brand, but was brought back by the wily veteran on the power section.

Lap 4 effectively ended any hope of a thrilling conclusion to the race, as van Empel remained solid while Pieterse slid out and came down on a corner, putting paid to her pursuit once and for all. Behind, Brand finally lost Vas and after Pieterse's accident, the Baloise-Trek rider was able to pick her off and pass her to move into second position. With one lap remaining, the gap from van Empel to her compatriot Brand was 33 seconds, but Pieterse wasn't done, catching and passing Brand on the final lap, finding her fire once again. It was fleeting though, as Brand's superior running skills put her back into second. 

A slight stumble for van Empel towards the end of the lap was not enough to put her lead in jeopardy, and she raised her arms for the first time since 14th at Herentals, with Brand coming through in second 37 seconds down, and Pieterse third.

The men's race saw Thibau Nys starting strongly, and Mathieu van der Poel unable to exert his dominance on lap one. Instead, Nys took the race by the horns with Michael Vantourenhout in his wheel, the primary representative of Pauwels-Sauzen Bingoal in the absence of Eli Iserbyt, who sat the race out suffering from the nerve pain that he had opened up about the previous week.

Nys was looking confident until a lapse of concentration caused him to come down on an off-camber section and he sacrificed his position, with his teammate Pim Ronhaar deployed in his stead to try and hang on to Vantourenhout who took the initiative as the European champion faltered.

The four riders came back together over the course of lap 2, but Ronhaar couldn't hang on and with the world champion moving through the field to the head of the race, it was down to Nys once again to close down the lead duo. The young Belgian managed to bridge up to them just in time for the finish straight, where the three took a moment to pause and look at one another as they prepared for another five laps of battle.

Of course, the question regarding van der Poel isn't IF he will attack, but WHEN, and the answer came on lap 3. It was, er... on lap 3. It was less of the mega-watt detonation that we've come to expect from the Dutchman though, and more of a simple squeezing on the gas, a gradual but decisive application of pressure that saw him move clear of Vantourenhout and Nys, and away. The two behind continued to battle all the way through the following laps, but in the late stages of lap 5 Vantourenhout was finally able to distance his determined rival, as a small mishap for Nys on an off-camber section allowed the elder statesman to exert his authority.

It was a grim day out, and there was very much a sense of every man for himself. Lars van der Haar and Emiel Verstrynge laboured alone in fourth and fifth place respectively, as the riders were strung out in ones and twos around the lap. But despite a couple of small slips for van der Poel as he brought a little too much speed into a corner, there was no doubting his dominion over the race, his technical ability and speed combining once again to produce yet another stand-out ride.

Van der Haar's hard work paid off as he closed the gap to his teammate Nys and moved into third position, hunting down Vantourenhout's second place next. Further back, Cameron Mason was also picking his way through the field from 28th on lap 1 to 7th with a lap remaining, and his sights set on the riders in front of him.

Nys had a second wind and moved back into third place ahead of van der Haar with a lap remaining, and he may have hoped to close Vantourenhout down but the course ran out and he had to be content with third. Van der Poel of course took the win, and Cameron Mason missed out on 7th after a spirited charge to the line from the rapidly improving late starter Tibor del Grosso.

Exact Cross Loenhout (27 December)

Another day another cross, and sandwiched between two World Cup fixtures, many of the top women chose to sit out Loenhout, meaning the race represented a huge opportunity for a lesser known rider to enjoy some time in the spotlight.

The race began on a course shrouded in mist, and it was tricky to see who was where, as the race began to take shape. Marion Norbert Riberolle was one of the top-rated riders, having won an Exact Cross earlier in the season at Essen, but the Belgian struggled on the opening lap. Instead, her compatriot Sanne Cant chased Lauren Molengraaf in the early lead of the race in a battle of youth versus experience, and the veteran caught and passed her by the end of the lap, bringing two more riders across to make a lead group of four - Anna Kay and Larissa Hartog.

The course was heavy going in several sections, making it a tough slog for the women as they navigated tight technical corners and slippery descents. With Anna Kay in the lead, the front group swelled to five with the addition of Jamie de Beer, and another two riders chasing on behind - it looked set to be an exciting battle between a range of riders whose names don't regularly appear in the top echelons of winter crosses.

Cant and Kay looked to be the two strongest riders in the race, but in the pit section the ruts caused huge issues, Cant crashing and Molengraaf also being kicked off her bike. Kay was able to capitalise, and Visma-Lease A Bike's Imogen Wolff moved up into the podium positions as a result of some solid work throughout the first two laps, and she moved into the lead on lap 3, as Julie Brouwers and Norbert Riberolle joined the lead group. Cant recovered well from her fall to take control of the race once again, and she began to open up some distance between herself and the rest of the field.

From there, Riberolle succeeded in closing her down to form a lead duo with Wolff once again moving into third for a short while. On lap 4, with the duo of senior Belgian riders away, the race for the final podium spot intesified, with six riders in contention in a chase group.

Cant made an error allowing Riberolle to pull clear with just over a lap remaining. The two Brits, Kay and Wolff, moved clear in third and fourth for a time but the chase group came back together for the final lap. They were ragged though after a tough battle, and Wolff once again showed her power to head clear with Cant in second and Wolff completing the podium, the best result of her career in an elite competition.

There was a very different complexion to the men's race, compared with the early season, as a trio of late starters led the field early in lap one. Wout van Aert finally made his 2024 'cross debut, and he led the charge along with Mathieu van der Poel and Soudal-QuickStep's Tim Merlier. As Van Aert led into the first narrow corner with van der Poel on his wheel it was hard not to feel a frisson of excitement, as cyclocross' primary pair of contenders were finally facing off, for the first time this season.

It was not to be a day for Van Aert though. He had issues on lap 1, coming off his bike and allowing Merlier and MVDP to take the lead, the former teammates already opening a gap to the rest of the field. Van Aert did his best to try and sew it back up going into lap 2, but by then it was already too late, as van der Poel had already set off solo. Niels Vandeputte and Laurens Sweeck pulled clear of the field in pursuit of Van Aert, as Merlier faded - the sprinter unused to the rigours of cyclocross efforts in his first appearance of the season, despite his enthusiastic start.

There were slips for both of the top-billed riders on lap 2, though Van Aert's had a greater impact, as he came down once again and dropped behind Vandeputte and Sweeck ahead of the pump track. Sweeck himself was on a great day and he moved into clear second, while Van Aert recovered to take over third place, Thibau Nys reaching the chase group behind.

It was Sweeck chasing MVDP on lap 3, on a course that suits him, as Nys moved clear of Vandeputte to try and follow Van Aert. Sweeck caught the World champion heading into lap 4 to underscore the kind of form he was in, or perhaps to suggest to van der Poel was holding something in reserve after a busy racing block. Either way, it wouldn't be quite as straightforward for the Dutchman as usual.

After the first five, a huge chasing group headed into lap 4 led by none other than Britain's Thomas Mein, himself on a great day. With Nys and Van Aert vying for third, Sweeck spent lap 4 trying not to get dropped, but gradually lost touch with the leader, dropping back to form a chasing trio. MVDP moved into the final lap with a 32-second lead despite coming off his bike after making an error. Wout also crashed on the final lap - we later discovered it was due to a fan leaning too far over the barriers - and he was distanced from Sweeck and Nys.

Sweeck tried an attack close to the finish line but he couldn't drop Nys and as MVDP crossed the line, the next two would battle for the final two podium positions. It was Nys who came out on top (his second second place in three races, and third podium) with Sweeck mistiming his sprint, or perhaps finding himself in the wrong gear. Van Aert finished his first race back in fourth, and Thomas Mein finished in an excellent seventh spot in the end.

UCI World Cup Besançon (29 December)

A sojourn to France for a World Cup fixture saw a flock of 'crossers briefly leave the Low Countries, and there were plenty of big names in attendance in the women's field on a chilly day in the east of the country, with Puck Pieterse the only notable absence, and the return of the queen herself, Marianne Vos, to the field.

As the race kicked off, Marie Schreiber tried to get her usual start but slid out and crashed early on in lap one, and Fem van Empel was able to capitalise, storming into the lead with Zoe Bäckstedt the next rider on course, able to hang on to the world champion for a while, with Blanka Vas and Lucinda Brand following after.

It wasn't long until van Empel was able to move clear though, and while she led solo, a familiar position for her, Bäckstedt, Brand and Vas formed a chasing group. Further back, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado was clearly not having one of her better days (she later stated that she was negatively affected by the cold conditions) and Vos was easing her way back into racing, looking steady.

Bäckstedt struggled to hang on to Vas, who moved clear into second, though Brand was able to reel the Hungarian back on and pass her. She went into the final lap exactly 30 seconds down, reprising her usual role of dogged pursuer - it's been four weeks since the former world champ has been able to raise her arms though.

With the first three positions basically decided, the most exciting battle was for fourth position, with Bäckstedt and Vos duking it out between themselves on lap 4, swapping the advantage several times, with Inge van der Heijden chasing them.

At the end of the race, the young Brit was able to hang on to her advantage over the veteran to record an impressive fourth place, while Alvarado made a strong late recovery to storm into sixth position, just behind Vos. As for van Empel, she maintains her grip on the top spot heading into the second half of the Christmas period.

As for the men, the most notable absentees were Thibau Nys and Cameron Mason, and despite the looming presence of the imperious world champion, Toon Aerts took the race on from the start, storming into the lead. Michael Vantourenhout made an early mistake, holding up his teammate Eli Iserbyt and more, with Aerts and Felipe Orts looking the strongest in the early stages of the race. But of course, van der Poel picked his way through the crowd and made his way into second, though Aerts didn't relinquish control without a fight.

It was another day to forget for Vantourenhout as he got caught up in the pit area, and with Iserbyt lagging, it was fair to say the Pauwels-Sauzen team weren't particularly enjoying their French sortie.

As for Aerts and MVDP, of the two, Aerts was flying, riding sections that van der Poel was choosing to run, and clearly feeling good after suffering a stomach illness last week. Niels Vandeputte Swiss rider X Rouiller were next on the course with a host of chasers following on a few seconds back. There were more falls on the slippery course - Verstrynge over the bunny hops, and Ronhaar tumbling head-over-heels on the off-camber, on a day that would reward the steadiest set of wheels.

It seemed that the cold was getting to the men too. MVDP took over the lead on lap 2 but Aerts was equal to it.... Until he wasn't. The Dutchman pushed on in his inimitable style, and the rest were once again left to fight it out for the rest of the placements. Vandeputte and Aerts were the next two, Aerts still looking the better of the duo, holding the gap to the leader at around 15-20 seconds into lap 4.

A second brilliant day for Thomas Mein saw the Brit riding the race of his life, up to 6th position and fighting for his best ever World Cup finish in a group with Iserbyt and Orts.

As the race wore on, the elastic still hadn't snapped. Once again, perhaps it was it down to MVDP reserving his energy, or maybe it was down to Aerts putting in his best performance since his return to the field, on a course that suited him perfectly.

Iserbyt moved up to challenge Wyseure for 4th but despite his best efforts couldn't get the better of the younger rider, while Vantourenhout rode an extraordinary solo effort to make his way back from 30-something and a disastrous start to 7th, behind Thomas Mein, finishing in a career-best 6th position in a World Cup. His previous best was a 12th position in Dendermonde in 2020, in his first ever elite level World Cup appearance.

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If you want to catch up on the beginning of the 'Crossmas period, read part 1, and check in again soon for the next instalment of the kerstperiode diaries - NEXT UP: a thriller in Diegem shows the future of 'cross is bright, despite key absentees