It was another busy weekend for European cyclocross. There were ten races in 13 different countries, including a pair of C1 races in Spain and another in the Czech Republic. In addition, Iceland hosted their National Championships, with Ingvar Omarsson taking home the jersey. Most eyes (as usual) were focused on a pair of races in Belgium. The GP Neerpelt took place on Saturday and round three of the Superprestige series took place in Ruddervoorde on Sunday. Many of the top riders opted to skip the GP Neerpelt in order to rest before Sunday’s Superprestige race.
Here’s how this weeks rankings look:
Gianni VermeerschVermeersch is one of many riders in this weeks rankings who skipped Saturday’s race, opting to focus on Sunday. He seems to have cooled off a bit with a 14th place finish in Ruddervoorde. We expect him to still contend for a top ten finish week in and week out.
David van der PoelVan der Poel continued his strong season in Neerpelt, with a third place finish. He struggled a bit on Sunday where he ended up 17th. Despite that poor result, he still remains on of the stronger riders in the bunch.
Laurens SweeckSweeck took advantaged of a slightly weaker field, picking up the victory on Saturday. He backed that up with a strong seventh place finish on Sunday. He has been out of the rankings for some time now, but it appears he may be back on form.
Tom MeeusenMuch like Sweeck, Meeusen hasn’t been in the rankings much this season, if at all. His results thus far have been subpar, but with a pair of top ten finishes – fifth on Saturday and sixth on Sunday – he’ be a rider to watch.
Lars van der HaarVan der Haar has been at the front a lot lately and has looked very strong. He didn’t race on Saturday and was eighth on Sunday. We expect him to be a top five contender and has a shot at the podium on any given day.
Quinten HermansWe expected Hermans to be in the mix for a podium both days this past weekend. He seemed to struggle a bit, finishing seventh on Saturday and eleventh on Sunday. Despite the results, he’s still a threat and should be back in the mix this weekend.
Michael VanthourenhoutVanthourenhout disappointed a bit on Saturday, finishing 12th. However, on Sunday, he was back towards the front end of the race with a solid fifth place finish. He is a very consistent rider, but can’t seem to crack the top three to land on a podium.
Toon AertsThe top three remain unchanged this week as they continue to solidify their place in the rankings and on the results sheet. Aerts did not race on Saturday and was third on Sunday. As usual, Mathieu van der Poel crushed the field on Sunday, but Aerts wasn’t far behind Wout van Aert in the battle for second. If he can continue to close that gap, he could be moving up one step on the podium in the near future.
Wout van AertAs with the rest of our top three, van Aert opted not to race on Saturday. He put in a solid ride on Sunday, but, as usual, was not able to hang with Mathieu van der Poel. It’s amazing to see how strong van Aert looks, and how far behind van der Poel he is.
Mathieu van der PoelAnother race, another victory for van der Poel. He got away early and never looked back, winning by 35 seconds. At this point we are wondering if anyone can stop the dutchman.
