All images: Tonke Berg

If you only watch one race of the cyclocross season in 2024, make it the Superprestige Diegem (30 December).

Always one of the highlights of the cyclocross winter, this evening race, ridden over an urban course in the Flemish Brabant just a stone's throw from Brussels airport, features supplementary entertainment in the form of the Turbo Cross and boasts a Belgian party like no other. A race that suffered from a rare two-year absence from the calendar due to covid, both years since its return to the schedule in 2022 have been absolute bangers, with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert taking a win apiece in the men's race, while Puck Pieterse has triumphed twice in the women's.

This year was no different, and in fact, by dint of the absence of the so-called ‘Big Three’ from the field, the men’s race was arguably the best race of the season so far. I considered in a recent article the inevitable departure of these hugely influential riders from the sport, and the impact it may have on audiences and race organisers, but after watching this year’s Diegem, it’s becoming easier to peer out into a future without Van Aert and van der Poel and see light at the end of the tunnel. If promoters could bottle the excitement, unpredictability and aggression of that men’s race and sell it, the solution would be ready made.

In this special one-off edition of the Kerstperiode Diaries, I take a look back at both races, and to show you what I mean.

Lucinda Back On Brand

With no Fem van Empel, and the winner of the last two editions of the race – Puck Pieterse – absent – the elite women’s race was wide open and a precious win up for grabs. Another few key names were missing, including Zoe Bäckstedt, Marie Schreiber and Blanka Vas, and there was no denying who the favourites were – the two former world champions who have fought head-to-head since the early season, Baloise Trek’s Lucinda Brand, and Fenix-Deceuninck’s Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.

There’s always a fast and furious opening to Diegem as riders charge away from the start line to ensure they are first into the first slick muddy corner. The pressure rippled back through the field causing a big crash at the back, and holding up around half of the women.

At the front, a group of four were quickly away, consisting of the two aforementioned favourites, along with the French champion Helen Clauzel and Leonie Bentveld of Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal, but the course isn’t conducive to opening big gaps and Crelan-Corendon’s Inge van der Heijden came flying through to join them, bringing Sanne Cant with her, and from there the lead group contained six to eight riders for a while as the strongest riders traded blows but weren’t able to move clear.

By the end of the first lap though, Alvarado was finally able to find some space, with van der Heijden on her wheel, and the two riders looked to be opening up a lead, but by the time they crossed the line to move into lap 2, Brand had clawed her way back to them. From there, the three formed a leading trio, which never looked back, developing their advantage over the course of the second lap. One lap is all it was though. Brand put her foot on the gas as the women began lap 3, and van der Heijden began to lose touch with the front of the race under the pressure from the senior Dutchwoman. Three became two, and we were back to the familiar rivalry that has defined this season so far.

With two laps to go, Alvarado had taken control at the head of the race, but she couldn’t hang on to it, as Brand passed her once again, and began to apply more pressure. Over the course of the following lap, Alvarado didn’t appear to make any errors, at least from what we saw on the broadcast, yet Brand just accelerated away from her bit by bit until she was leading solo, with Alvarado labouring in her wake, looking incapable of matching Brand’s incredible strength on the day.

With a 12-second cushion heading into the final lap, Brand was looking as dominant as we’ve seen her all season, and she continued to impress on the final lap, as van der Heijden attempted to close in on Alvarado but suffered a mechanical late on and was forced to dismount. Alvarado came in second, with van der Heijden managing to hang on for third, but there was no doubt about the deserving winner, Lucinda Brand – closing out the year with a win, almost exactly a month after her last win in Dublin on 1st December.

A story of tailwhips and sprinting

A typically chaotic start brought a wide range of names into contention in the men’s race, as the field mostly managed to make a clean getaway and flew at breakneck speed into the first corner.

With no Wout or Mathieu in attendance, the honours were up for grabs in a race that’s been dominated by the two of them (well, mostly Mathieu) since 2014 (Sven Nys was the last rider to win outside of the two of them, in 2013) and so it was refreshing to see newly crowned US national champion Andrew Strohmayer take the early lead, as if to prove that it really could be anybody’s day if they had the legs. Half a lap or so later – and a few tight corners forcing the formation of a (dis)orderly queue – and the field shook itself out into some sort of order, leaving a lead group of ten with Thomas Mein fighting to catch on.

But not for long. The shape of the race was a snaking concertina, with groups coalescing and then stretching and splitting, only to reform with a different composition, bunching together once again as they took on the numerous twists and turns, ups and downs of the ingenious Diegem parcours.

Laurens Sweeck was perhaps the first rider to launch a notable attack, the first to move clear of the field for a short time, and he was clearly feeling good. Three more pursued – Michael Vantourenhout, Tibor Del Grosso and Felipe Orts, with Thibau Nys closing in heading into lap 2. As the group crossed the line to begin lap 2, Vantourenhout took control, with the same riders in close order once again but more catching on, including two more from Alpecin to make a trio – three in a lead group of eight.

It's one of those races where to give a blow-by-blow account would somehow rob the race of its meaning. The race situation was ever-changing, with strong vibes of ‘total free-for-all’, but as the evening progressed it became clear who would be in contention, with a select few riders present in every lead group despite positions being regularly switched around, including Sweeck, Nys, Vantourenhout and Del Grosso – the young rider really coming into his own deep into the Christmas period. The latter even brought some fun to proceedings with a bit of showboating, pulling some tail-whips over the bridge, because why not?

Vantourenhout attacked on lap 3 and pulled clear of the bunch, the first rider to gain a clear solo lead, but his luck would once again run out as further issues with his shoe led to a hold-up in the pits for the former European champion (we make that the third shoe-based issue in as many weeks – a change might be in order?!). It wasn’t a good day for the Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal team, as a crash on ‘that’ slippery corner held up Eli Iserbyt, allowing Cameron Mason to glide past unimpeded and improve his position. Meanwhile, Del Grosso inspired his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates in bringing the fun to the race with LOADS of people getting some air.

Van der Haar was the next rider to have an issue but at the head of the race, a solid group of four riders finally found their way clear. Sweeck, Nys, Del Grosso and Vandeputte were away and the winner looked set to come from this group as they whipped round the course, pursued belligerently by a Vantourenhout on a mission, as the Belgian tore his way back through the field to try and recover following his setbacks.

Ryan Kamp was another rider not usually in the spotlight who was having a great day out… until he wasn't. His one-off attack was not enough to keep him in contention in the lead group, and shortly after that Sweeck launched, to go solo.

The question on everyone’s lips after that was: what happened to Vantourenhout? Blazing his way back through the field one moment and the next, simply disappearing from the broadcast. Presumably he’d had a crash off-screen – in a race this busy and with limited places to place cameras, not every corner can be covered. It left Iserbyt trying to sew up the gap, to Sweeck on behalf of his team, but eventually it was Vandeputte who made the difference, with Nys on his wheel. Had Sweeck done too much too soon?

Vandeputte took the lead but thanks to an immense climb from Thibau Nys and the dogged resilience of Iserbyt, but it was far from over. Del Grosso was back too after being temporarily distanced, safe to say this was his best ride at elite level thus far.

The final lap was one for the ages. Nys threw everything down in one huge attack but with so few places to make an impact, it just wasn’t enough to distance Sweeck, who jumped right back onto the wheel of his younger compatriot. As the two charged toward the line with a spiralling sense of desperation, their final sprint side by side, wheeling their bikes next to one another as they tore at break-neck speed through the mud section, was absolutely scintillating. It would come down the final sprint and Sweeck backed himself, and Nys struggled with a pedal, and that as they say, was that.

For Nys, poached on the line for third place in the end, he continued his consistent kerstperiode with a fourth consecutive podium – wins have been harder to come by though, his most recent being Lokeren back in early November. For Sweeck, a prized victory in his collection, once which he will treasure.

And for the fans, an unforgettable evening’s entertainment, and the promise of a thriving and competitive cyclocross scene for many years to come, with talents of all ages vying for supremacy in one of the most thrilling battles we’ve seen in some time. An antidote to the ‘big three’? Damn straight. Had van der Poel been present at the race, we would have been deprived of this incredible piece of entertainment.

This is what cyclocross organisers and media need to leverage as we head into an uncertain future where the poster boys of the sport may no longer be relied upon to bring the crowds. In the end, cyclocross is a sport of skill, power and resilience – but for the viewer, it’s a sport in which big rivalries and exciting battles are key. So bottle this night – packed with all the vital ingredients required for a memorable race – and while we're at it, play that final running section on repeat at the beginning of every future broadcast to remind everyone just how good this sport can be – and look forward to what’s to come.

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