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2022 Exact Cross Essen (C-2),
Essen, Belgium

Saturday, December 10, 2022: Complete results

Essen Cyclocross podium history | 2021 edition | Course map

Weather at the race city of Essen at 1:20 PM, local time: 0C (32F) with the wind from the south at 11 km/hr (7 mph). The forecast is for the snow to wait until 7:00 PM.

Complete results: Men | Women

Men: Start list

Gerben Kuypers finishes 15sec ahead of 2nd place Jens Adams.

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

The young West Fleming Gerben Kuypers has somewhat surprisingly won the Exact Cross in Essen. Kuypers, final winner of the Coupe de France, rode solo for 45 minutes. Top favorite Jens Adams and European U21 champion Emiel Verstrynge came in second and third.

Gerben Kuypers took the best start on the greasy track around the Robotland buildings. Clément Horny, Emiel Verstrynge and Victor Van De Putte were his closest attackers in that initial phase. Yorben Lauryssen, Lennert Belmans and Jens Adams followed in their footsteps. But there was no real separation after the first round.

After ten minutes of play, a quartet isolated themselves in the front, not coincidentally the better starters. Horny, Kuypers, Verstrynge and Adams. When Horny and Adams crashed into each other, Kuypers and Verstrynge made a gap. However, Verstrynge had a puncture, Kuypers did not hesitate and started a solo venture.

Behind him, Verstrynge and Adams were joined by Victor Van De Putte and Jente Michels, who had returned from the behind, but Kuypers had meanwhile driven away for half a minute. In the last quarter of the race, top favorite Jens Adams still got up to speed, but it was no longer possible to nibble more than ten seconds from the gap. Adams secured second place. Emiel Verstrynge, European U21 champion, came third.

“This is something special,” said Kuypers afterwards. “It was the perfect day. A stomp-cross, that suits me. This shows that I do have a fairly large engine. I Wasn't supposed to get away so fast, but Emiel punctured when there were still six laps left. I then did my own thing and was able to remain error-free. It was really more than half an hour against myself.”

Complete results, men:

Men's startlist with back numbers, December 9, 2022:

Women: Start list

Aniek van Alphen has left everyone else behind.

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

Exactly one week after the Boom Cross Race, Dutchwoman Aniek van Alphen has achieved her second victory of the season. Van Alphen rode away from a leading group of six after a quarter of the race. Alicia Franck and Yara Kastelijn completed the podium.

Alicia Franck took the holeshot in the Rectavit Ladies Trophy in Essen. Aniek van Alphen, Laura Verdonschot, Anna Kay and the young Leonie Bentveld joined, resulting in a leading group of five. Yara Kastelijn also hooked up at the beginning of the second round, which expanded the five to six.

In lap three there was some separation at the front after Bentveld went down and took Franck with her in her fall. For Aniek van Alphen this was the signal to increase the pace. And that turned out to be too high for Kastelijn, Kay and Verdonschot. In no time at all, the Dutch rider of Team 777 gathered ten seconds on the fast track. Behind it, they gathered again.

Van Alphen was not threatened in the second half of the match. A week after she took her first season victory in Boom, she immediately raced to a second win. A little behind her, an exciting battle ensued with the other podium places at stake.

The decision was only made in the final lap when Alicia Franck drove away from her competitors. Nice boost for the Deceuster-Bonache rider. Yara Kastelijn won the sprint for third place from the British rider Anna Kay. Laura Verdonschot completed the top five. Bentveld was sixth at just over a minute.

"In the beginning it didn't go by itself," said winner Van Alphen afterwards. “It was a matter of positioning well. I also felt like the others were fighting for my wheel. That's what caused the fall, I think. When I got to the front, I was able to make a gap. And I was able to deepen that further along the way. I also had the beam passage in my favor. The form is clearly okay and that second victory gives extra morale.”

Complete results, women:

Women's start list with back numbers, December 9, 2022:

2022 Exact Cross Essen course map: