Zilvermeercross Elite men’s and women’s competition dominated by Belgian, Dutch riders

26th in #zilvermeercross today. Sand, sand, and more sand. pic.twitter.com/i7GkGLMZ6L

— Michael van den Ham (@MVDHcyclocross) December 12, 2015

After finishing the sandy, tricky course of yesterday’s Zilvermeercross cyclocross competition, the host country was strongly represented on the Elite men’s podium, as Belgium’s Wout Van Aert and Laurens Sweeck took the first and third spots, respectively. Riding for the Netherlands and rolling to a second-place finish, meanwhile, was Mathieu van der Poel.

Canada’s representation on the pressure-cooker Belgian terrain was Michael van den Ham, who put the unforgiving course under his rubber with a solid 26th position.

Not satisfied about today, I hope it will be better tomorrow! #zilvermeercross

— Mathieuvanderpoel (@mathieuvdpoel) December 12, 2015

Throughout much of the race, Wout Van Aert was in command, with the only major battle being a struggle for second place between van der Poel and Sweeck. As competition rolled into its second lap, the two broke away from a pack of 12 riders at the front, the competition being between the eventual first and third place finishers—at least until they were joined by Sweeck. Van der Poel, the reigning world champion, and Era Real Estate-Muprotect’s Sweeck duked it out for second, Van Aert having built a lead too powerful to be overtaken.

At the finish, Van Aert rolled to the win with a time of 1;03:32, followed 20 seconds behind by van der Poel in second place. The Netherlands rider, meanwhile, kept a seven-second gap on Sweeck, who rolled across the line 27 seconds behind Van Aert’s winning time.

The Elite women’s competition saw similar national representation on the podium, if in different numbers. Belgium’s Jolien Verschueren finished in first place, taking the top spot on the podium after a somewhat slow start. Eventually, however, she was able to power her way to catching up with the lead riders, a group that included Sabrina Stultiens of the Netherlands and her compatriot, Sanne Van Paassen Verschueren catapulted herself ahead of the group, earning her a strong gap on Stultiens, 17 seconds behind, and Van Paassen, who finished competition 26 seconds behind the lead.

“My start was not good again,” Verschueren said in conversation with Sport.be reporters, adding that it was “putting it mildly” to describe it in such terms.

However, “bit by bit,” she added, “I managed to catch up with the opposition.”

2015 Zilvermeercross

Elite Men

1) Wout Van Aert (Belgium) . 1:03:32
2) Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) 0:00:20
3) Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) 0:00:27

26) Michael van den Ham (Canada)

Elite Women

1) Jolien Verschueren (Belgium) 0:43:46
2) Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands) 0:00:17
3) Sanne Van Paassen (Netherlands) 0:00:25