World champion van der Poel returns for UCI cyclocross World Cup #3 in Koksijde
Van der Poel and Nys will have to contend with red-hot compatriot Wout van Aert (Vastgoedservice Golden Palace), who leads the World Cup after winning the first race in Las Vegas.
After a long recovery from a knee injury, young world cyclocross champion Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands) is set for his first race of the season, Sunday’s UCI World Cup in Koksijde. The Belgian race is an epically sandy affair, with dunes that the riders must run. Venerable Sven Nys will be hunting for his seventh victory in the 46-year old contest.
#ThrowbackThursday The day when the Belgians ruled #koksijde #cxworlds #cyclocross #2012 pic.twitter.com/KrMICO6VkV
— cyclephotos (@cyclephotos) November 19, 2015
Van der Poel and Nys will have to contend with red-hot Belgian Wout van Aert (Vastgoedservice Golden Palace), who leads the World Cup after winning the first race in Las Vegas. Van Aert also leads the Superprestige series, the fourth contest of which he won last week.
Still in Belgium after the Superprestige-Gavare race, Canadians Michael van den Ham (Red Truck-Garneau) and Mark McConnell (Hot Sauce Cycling Club) will assail the sand dunes along with Aaron Schooler and Cameron Jette.
On the women’s side, Belgian Sanne Cant, who is running away with the Superprestige series, will look to take her first World Cup victory of the season. Last year’s World Cup winner, Cant won’t have this year’s leader, Czech Katerina Nash, to contend with, but will have to face Italian Eva Lechner, champion of the second World Cup race in Valkenburg. American Katherine Compton, winner of the 2010 edition of Koksijde, has the experience to take victory.
No Canadian women will be on the start line.
