It was a thrilling Sunday of racing on the Cotentin Peninsula, as Aniek van Alphen and Thibau Nys took elite wins.
Cor Vos
The second round of the UCI World Cup saw another weekend of racing for all categories in Flamanville, Northern France.
Positioned on the west coast of Northern France’s Cotentin Peninsula, Flamanville is a port town whose biggest claim to fame these days is as home to a nuclear power plant, its supplies of iron and granite, and the legend of a dragon that terrorised the area in the fifth century. But this weekend, it was all about cyclocross.
Flamanville is not a tentpole feature of the calendar, it’s only twice been used outside the Coupe de France (and National Championships), but its UCI World Cup appearances have hosted great racing in 2022 and 2023. On Sunday morning, Nys was quick to praise the quality of the course, even making the bold claim that non-traditional CX nations might actually be doing it better than Belgium at the moment. There was certainly a lot for riders and fans alike to get their teeth into, with a couple of long, fast stretches, technical sections and multiple obstacles to test all manner of ‘cross skills.
CX gallery: The UCI World Cup kicks off in frozen Tábor
The UCI Cyclocross World Cup kicked off in Tábor, Czechia, with a picturesque – and icy cold – day of racing.
All the races were thrilling in their own ways, with French and Italian riders reigning supreme in the junior and under-23 categories. Then later in the day, the elite competition was fierce, both men and women giving fans plenty to watch, as Aniek van Alphen and Thibau Nys took brilliant victories.
The weekend was given an extra sheen of significance by the elite roll call. With World Cup leader Lucinda Brand and second-place Sara Casasola joining Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse on the absentees list, it was all to play for among the elite women. As for the men, they were racing just days after the announcement of Mathieu van der Poel’s 13-race programme (provisional), which is set to include at least six (possibly eight) of the 12 World Cup rounds. Assuming the world champion arrives in the same dominant form as he has in previous years, time is running out for those still looking for a big win this season.
In two weeks, Mathieu will be there, and it’ll be a completely different story.”
– Thibau Nys
Junior world champion Lise Revol and her French compatriots during training on Saturday.
Less than 24 hours later, the 17-year-old struck out early on home soil; after just one lap, Revol already held a solid half-minute lead over closest chasers Zoe Roche of Great Britain, and Italian duo Elise Bianchi and Giorgia Pellizotti. Roche and Bianchi lost touch and fell through the placings in the second lap, only Pellizotti hanging on to her podium finish.
By the end of the five-lap junior women’s race, Revol had forged an emphatic lead of one minute 20 seconds to take her third win of the season, and the World Cup lead a week after coming second to Barbora Bukovská who was herself on home soil in Tábor, but skipped the trip to Flamanville. Revol now leads overall by 15 points to Pellizotti.
Junior women top 5
Lise Revol (France) 41:29Giorgia Pellizotti (Italy) +1:20Lucie Grohová (Czechia) +1:45Nynke Jochems (Netherlands) +1:58Isis Versluis (Netherlands) +2:02
The junior men’s race had kicked off the day’s racing shortly after the crack of dawn, and as has been a recurring theme so far this season, Italian youngsters Filippo Grigolini and Patrik Pezzo Rosola caused no end of trouble for their rivals. Tábor winner Soren Bruyère Joumard put up a good fight, but European champion Grigolini ultimately broke clear to take a solo victory. The Frenchman was able to defend his World Cup lead, though, taking second place on the Italian-dominated podium. He leads the standings by five points to Grigolini after two of six rounds.
Junior men top 5 (sadly, no photos)
Filippo Grigolini (Italy) +36:42Soren Bruyère Joumard (France) +0:11Patrik Pezzo Rosola (Italy) +0:32Delano Heeren (Netherlands) +0:34Giel Lejeune (Belgium) +0:47
A week after David Haverdings took round one in Czechia, runner-up Aubin Sparfel was determined to go one better on home soil. The World Cup leader tried to stick with the Frenchman, but it was not his day.
Belgian Yordi Corsus proved the closest match for the defiant Sparfel, but the versatile young Frenchman was flying. Victory was his, and with Haverdings finishing a disappointing ninth, Sparfel also took over the World Cup lead with an advantage of 13 points.
In third place was Stefano Viezzi, the fourth age-group athlete from Italy to land on a podium, which was more than any other nation – France had three, though of course, two of them took victory. Notably absent were the traditional heartlands of cyclocross, Belgium and the Netherlands, with Corsus the sole representative.
Under-23 men top 5
Aubin Sparfel (France) 50:35Yordi Corsus (Belgium) +0:12Stefano Viezzi (Italy) +0:26Arthur van den Boer (Belgium) +0:34Kay De Bruyckere (Belgium) +0:41
The age-group categories will next race for World Cup honours at Koksijde on 21st December, then again at Dendermonde on the 28th. They’ll then travel to Benidorm on 18 January, before the all-category finale at Hoogerheide a week later.
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