2024 Exactcross Loenhout-Azencross (C-1),
Loenhout, Belgium

Friday, December 27, 2024

Azencross-Loenhout podium history | 2023 edition | Course map

Complete results: Men | Women

Weather at Loenhout at 1:40 PM, local time: 3C (37F), foggy, with the wind from the north at 3 km/hr (2 mph). There is just a 3% chance of rain.

Men:

Mathieu van der Poel wins again.

Les Woodland's book Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Here is a machine-translation of the race organizer's report.

Mathieu Van Der Poel is unassailable this cyclocross season. Even at Wout Van Aert's comeback in Loenhout, he barely tolerated any opposition. Laurens Sweeck, Thibau Nys and Wout Van Aert tried to put the world champion under pressure, but Van Der Poel triumphed once again in this Exact Cross.

Wout Van Aert took the hole shot in Loenhout. With Mathieu Van Der Poel and Tim Merlier in his wake, the huge number of supporters got their money's worth. The three road stars immediately put their foot down. The European road champion even briefly took over command in the first round.

After only five minutes of racing, the world champion put his foot down for the first time. He immediately put his opponents under pressure. Only Wout Van Aert was able to stay in his wake for a while. After a knee fall, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider had to let Laurens Sweeck take the chase.

Sweeck was able to leave his competitors behind and went looking for Van Der Poel on his own. He never quite caught up, but was able to limit the world champion's lead to a few seconds. Spurred on by the public, Sweeck did everything he could to make it an exciting battle. In all his enthusiasm, he came up against himself a bit. Wout Van Aert and Thibau Nys came back to join him. The three of them entered the battle for the two remaining podium places.

An unfortunate contact with a spectator took crowd favourite Wout Van Aert out of this battle. In the meantime, Van Der Poel rode to his fourth season victory in four races. Sweeck and Nys were allowed to sprint for second place. Nys won in this tough sprint ahead of a strong Sweeck.

Van Aert finished fourth on his comeback and is satisfied with this all in all. "That felt good. I felt good in that first round. But when Mathieu accelerated, I noticed that it was really not good enough for me technically. Unfortunately, in the last lap I came into contact with a fan who was completely hanging over the course, so I lost a possible podium place.”

Complete results.

1	Mathieu Van Der Poel	Alpecin-Deceuninck	58min 11sec
2	Thibau Nys	Baloise Trek Lions	@ 14sec
3	Laurens Sweeck	Crelan-Corendon	0:15
4	Wout Van Aert	Visma-Lease a Bike	0:36
5	Niels Vandeputte	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:09
6	Jens Adams	Lotto-X-Oats Athletes for Hope	1:15
7	Thomas Mein	Hope Factory Racing	1:27
8	Lander Loockx	TDT-Unibet	1:34
9	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	1:54
10	Thijs Aerts	Charles Liégeois Roastery	2:04
11	Toon Vandebosch	Crelan-Corendon	2:10
12	Daan Soete	Ridley Racing Team	2:12
13	Cameron Mason	Cyclocross Reds	2:17
14	Tom Meeusen	Cyclis-Van Den Plas	2:25
15	Corné Van Kessel	Deschacht-Hens-FSP	2:44
16	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:48
17	Clément Horny	BH-Wallonie MTB Team	2:56
18	Arne Baers	Lotto Dstny Development	3:20
19	Stan Van Grieken	Stageco Cycling Team	3:30
20	Arno Van Den Broeck	Cyclis-Van Den Plas	3:46
21	Stefano Viezzi	Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal	3:47
22	Yorben Lauryssen	Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal	4:00
23	Sander De Vet	Alfasun-Basso Team Flanders	4:03
24	Kenay De Moyer	Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal	4:08
25	Julian Siemons	Cyclis-Van Den Plas	4:18
26	Rémon Delnoije	TWC De Kempen	4:51
27	Ward Huybs	Baloise Trek Lions	4:53
28	Alexis David	Amical Cycliste Bisontine	4:55
29	Senn Bossaerts	AA Drink Young Lions	4:57
30	Hannes Degenkolb	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	5:20
31	Ferre Geeraerts	Alfasun-Basso Team Flanders	5:22
32	Finn Treudler	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	5:54
33	Lukas Herrmann	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	6:10
34	Max Rijvers	Tigerr Cycling Team	6:14
35	Hijiri Oda	Yowamushi Padel CT	6:18
36	Florian Gaillard	Issoire Cyclisme	6:24
37	Mathieu Kockelmann	CC Chevigny	@ 1 lap
38	Noah Shelton	Bear CX	@ 1 lap
39	Daniel Barnes	Team Spectra Cannondale-DAS	@ 1 lap
40	Tjalle Dries	TD Cycling	@ 1 lap
41	Florian Anderle	RSV Stadtilm	@ 1 lap
42	Fabian Maes	WAC Team VZW	@ 1 lap
43	Aubin Villar Thiery	EC Chateau Thierry	@ 1 lap
44	Ben Frederick	Small Monsters Project-Ritchey-Ornot	@ 1 lap
45	Michael Gassner	RSV Moosburg	@ 1 lap
46	Ruben Lembrechts	Van Gorp Projects-CT Zandhoven	@ 1 lap
47	Ieben Jacobs	WAC Team VZW	@ 1 lap
48	Alex Bregenzer	Dreamers Racing	@ 1 lap
49	Ryan Drummond	EuroCrossAcademy	@ 1 lap
50	Yelle Learts	Young Cycling Talent D&D	@ 1 lap
51	Calvin Conaway	Ignition-Rigd-Leitner	@ 1 lap
52	Raphaël Kockelmann	Sebmotobikes CX Team	@ 1 lap
53	Justin Peck	Bear CX	@ 1 lap
54	Paul Greijus	Bauhaus SportKlubb	@ 1 lap
55	Lennart Lein	KED-Stevens Radteam Berlin TSC EV	@ 1 lap
56	Senne De Meyer	CT UW IMMO Olus-Doltcini Sportswear	@ 1 lap
57	Morgan Guérin	Obor-Bike Aid Cycling Team	@ 1 lap
58	Toon Deckers	WAC Team VZW	@ 1 lap
59	Ethan Delgrosso	Competitive Edge Racing	@ 1 lap
60	Unax Galan Cortazar	Miribilla BTT Elkartea	@ 1 lap
61	Huub Artz	WV Schijndel	@ 1 lap
62	Rune Smits	Individual	@ 1 lap
63	Finn Westover	EuroCrossAcademy	@ 1 lap
64	Maarten Van Staeyen	Cyclis-Van Den Plas	@ 2 laps
65	Oliver Halliday	Privat Member	@ 2 laps
66	Carden King	Triple Crown Workshop	@ 2 laps
67	Pieter Pauwels	Starbikes-Vistabuild	@ 2 laps
68	Simon Wyllie	Halesowen A CC	@ 2 laps
69	Fabian Merino	Broad Street Breakaway	@ 2 laps
70	Filip Stark	Ryska Posten SK	@ 2 laps
71	Marcos Gomez Vega	Recambios Callejo	@ 3 laps
72	Tetsuki Kaji	Olanda Base-Watersley	@ 3 laps
73	Kosuke Endo	Olanda Base-Watersley	@ 3 laps
74	Dovydas Luksas	Lithuanian CX National Team	@ 4 laps
75	Yuta Okayama	Olanda Base-Watersley	@ 4 laps

 

Women:

Marion Norbert Riberolle takes a solo win in Loenhout

Les Woodland's book Paris-Roubaix: The Inside Story - All the bumps of cycling's cobbled classic is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Here's a machine-translation of the race organizer's report.

Crelan-Corendon teammates Marion Norbert Riberolle and Sanne Cant were the big favorites at the start of the Rectavit Ladies Cross in Loenhout. After a double fall by Belgian champion Cant, Riberolle was able to distance herself and conquer this Azencross. The young Imogen Wolff was allowed to climb onto the podium as third.

A golden opportunity in the Azencross for Sanne Cant and her teammate Marion Norbert Riberolle to take another victory. After a good start, Cant immediately tried to make the difference with her competitors, Norbert Riberolle had a bad start and had to try to come back from the background.

In the second round, Cant already thought her moment had come, but fell near the material post. Anna Kay took over the command of the leading group, in which Norbert Riberolle had joined in the meantime. One lap later, the two Crelan-Corendon riders were able to ride away from the leading group with Larissa Hartog, Imogen Wolff, Lauren Molengraaf, Julie Brouwers and Jamie De Beer.

In the second half of the race, Cant crashed into a pole at the material post and had to let her teammate and competitor Norbert Riberolle go. She had no sympathy for her idol and headed straight for victory. “I rode around with mixed feelings, but the chances are limited and I didn't want to give away anything here. Even though Sanne was my idol when I was younger, I didn't want to give this away,” said the winner.

Sanne Cant came in second disappointed, but was mainly concerned about her injuries. “I was particularly badly injured during the first crash, I actually had to finish the rest of the race with one leg.”

Jamie De Beer, Larissa Hartog, Imogen Wolff, Lauren Molengraaf and Julie Brouwers fought for the third podium place in the final. The young Visma-Lease a Bike rider Imogen Wolff won this battle and was allowed to join the podium with the Belgian winner and runner-up.

Complete results:

1	Marion Norbert Riberolle	Crelan-Corendon	48min 49sec
2	Sanne Cant	Crelan-Corendon	@ 23sec
3	Imogen Wolff	Visma | Lease a Bike	0:50
4	Larissa Hartog	Orange Babies	0:52
5	Julie Brouwers	Charles Liégeois Roastery	0:53
6	Anna Kay	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	0:57
7	Jamie De Beer	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	1:01
8	Lauren Molengraaf	Charles Liégeois Roastery	1:07
9	Yara Kastelijn	Fenix-Deceuninck	1:17
10	Marthe Truyen	Fenix-Deceuninck	1:51
11	Sterre Vervloet	Lotto Dstny Ladies	2:31
12	Sara Sonnemans	ZZPR.NL-ParkHotel	2:33
13	Puck Langenbarg	WV. Schijndel	2:53
14	Xaydee Van Sinaey	Crelan-Corendon	3:01
15	Lotte Baele	De Ceuster-Bouwpunt	3:12
16	Floor Van Elsacker	ACROG-Tormans	3:14
17	Anne Knijnenburg	CTW ParkHotel Valkenburg	3:15
18	Elisabeth Brandau	Germany	3:27
19	Camille Devigne	Doltcini O'Shea	3:32
20	Judith Krahl	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	3:37
21	Anna Flynn	Spectra Racing	3:44
22	Mille Foldager Nielsen	Solbjerg IF MTB	3:54
23	Ella Maclean-Howell	Heizomat Radteam-Herrmann	4:00
24	Xan Crees	Team Spectra DAS	4:11
25	Adèle Hurteloup	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	4:14
26	Regina Bruchner	Zalaegerszegi Ketkerek Sportegyesulet	4:24
27	Sera Gademan	Bike Emotions	4:31
28	Wendy Bunea	CS Next Sports	4:47
29	Hope Inglis	Brother UK Orientation Marketing	5:01
30	Meg De Bruyne	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	5:03
31	Elena Day	Spectra Cannondale	5:04
32	Simona Spesná	MS Bike Academy Racing	5:08
33	Nadja Heigl	KTM Alchemist powered by Brenta Brakes	5:13
34	Stefanie Paul	RSG Hannover	5:18
35	Tessa Zwaenepoel	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	5:27
36	Jente Koops	CC Pave 76	5:33
37	Alice Colling	Shibden CC	5:38
38	Loes Sels	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	5:46
39	Caroline Andersson	Basso Bikes	s.t.
40	Febe De Smedt	Proximus-Cyclis-AlphaMotorhomes	6:10
41	Lara Defour	Cycling Team Jade-LDL	6:18
42	Madeline Cooper	Montezuma's RT	6:26
43	Ana Lopez Burgos	Oscense CC	6:39
44	Tine Rombouts	Germany	6:49
45	Amy Perryman	Tekkerz CC	6:57
46	Juline Delcommune	Wilink Brussels Cycling	6:58
47	Roxanne Takken	Off Road Cycling TER AAR	7:18
48	Freya Whiteside	Nouverlles Cycling Prendas	7:38
49	Siobhan Kelly	Black Dog Racing	7:52
50	Jesse Vandenbulcke	De Ceuster-ACROG	8:07
51	Meadow Willems	Olanda Base-Watersley	8:21
52	Bridget Wilson	EuroCrossAcademy	8:32
53	Faustine Villar Thiery	EC Chateau Thierry	8:42
54	Jamie Mccoll	Team Wisconsin Cycling	9:23
55	Britt Kooremans	ASD Women Cycliong Project	9:33
56	Flavia Bunea	Celo Club Ambertois	9:41
57	Alana Polfliet	Never Give Up by Jolein Verschueren	9:42
58	Ava Shipman	Midwest Devo	10:12
59	Hilde Huijbregts	WV Breda	10:30
60	Malgorzata Mazurek	UKS Krupinski Suszec Konwa Bike	10:57
61	Viktoria Dehler	RF Hilpolstein 1993
62	Daniela Sierra Alvarez	Unicaja Banco Gijon
63	Georgia Mahoney	Magspeed Racing
64	Luna Carrio Hernandez	Gijon Ciclismo CDB
65	Marianna Angelica Gilioli	Lugagnano Off Road

 

Course map: