2021 European Cyclocross Championships
November 6 & 7, 2021: Col du Vam-Drenthe, Netherlands
European Cyclocross Championships podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition
The Race: Col du Vam is on a former landfill situated in the middle of the Dutch region of Drenthe that has since been turned into a site for bike trails. The top of the Col du Vam is the highest point in Drenthe.
Lars van der Haar is the European cross champion.
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Elite Men: Sunday, November 7, 2021
Weather at the nearby city of Hoogeveen at 1:30 PM, local time: 11C (51F,) partly cloudy, with the wind from the west at 23 km/hr (15 mph). There is a 50% chance of rain, dropping to 24% at 4:00 PM.
The race: Here's a machine-translation of the report from third-place Michael Vanthourenhout's Pauwels-Bingoal cycling team.
Of course we had hoped for more, but with the bronze medal from Michael Vanthourenhout we were still on the podium of the European championship on the VAM mountain. Defending champion Eli Iserbyt did not give up despite an absolute off day.
The European Championships high in the north of the Netherlands started with a big downer for Toon Vandebosch: due to a serious crash shortly after the start, he was immediately allowed to write his ambitions on his stomach. Eli Iserbyt and Laurens Sweeck also lost ground in the squabble due to the tumble, but Eli quickly shot forward again, where a leading group of five broke away. Also a strong Michael Vanthourenhout, and also Quinten Hermans, Toon Aerts and Lars van der Haar.
Halfway through, an attack by Hermans completely opened up the course. Just like the later champion Lars van der Haar, the Limburger turned out to be a size too strong for us, but Michael cycled the rest of the race in third position, which he defended until the finish line on top of the VAM mountain. Laurens returned from the background to place five, Toon to place eleven. Eli may have had a serious breakdown, but the outgoing European champion did not want to give up. He finished twelfth.
"Came for more, but still happy"
Michael may have dreamed of more, but he was still happy with his medal: “I came for more than bronze, but in the end this was the highest attainable today, I think. At the beginning of the race I felt good, but the steep part of the climb towards the finish suited me a little less. Climbing for a long time turns out to be a bit more difficult for me. That was the decisive stretch in the course, so I knew winning was going to be very difficult. I was happy that I could still compete for the podium."
The European Championship was a letdown for Eli. “However, there was nothing wrong before the game”, our man in form said afterwards. “I felt great yesterday. Today I didn't feel sick either. But as soon as the race started, I noticed that I didn't have super legs. And in the fourth round my legs were suddenly completely 'cut off'. It went from bad to worse, but at a European Championship I didn't want to give up just like that."
He may have to give up his European jersey, but Eli is already motivated for his next races: “On to Niel and Tabor. After today's game, Lars van der Haar is a worthy successor. He deserved to win, my congratulations.” Something Michael fully agrees: “Lars is the deserved winner. When you see where he comes from… There wasn't much to do about him today.”
Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available as an audiobook here.
Complete results:
27.18 kilometers raced at an average speed of 24.416 km/hr
| 1 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | Netherlands | 1hr 1min 44sec |
| 2 | HERMANS Quinten | Belgium | @ 25sec |
| 3 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | Belgium | 0:54 |
| 4 | AERTS Toon | Belgium | 1:34 |
| 5 | SWEECK Laurens | Belgium | 1:52 |
| 6 | ADAMS Jens | Belgium | 2:07 |
| 7 | DUBAU Joshua | France | 2:50 |
| 8 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris | Netherlands | 2:58 |
| 9 | DORIGONI Jakob | Italy | 3:00 |
| 10 | SOETE Daan | Belgium | 3:05 |
| 11 | VANDEBOSCH Toon | Belgium | 3:33 |
| 12 | ISERBYT Eli | Belgium | 3:36 |
| 13 | MENUT David | France | 3:50 |
| 14 | KUHN Kevin | Switzerland | 4:17 |
| 15 | MEISEN Marcel | Germany | 4:30 |
| 16 | MOTTIEZ Gilles | Switzerland | 4:53 |
| 17 | ORTS LLORET Felipe | Spain | 5:16 |
| 18 | RÜEGG Timon | Switzerland | 5:54 |
| 19 | BERTOLINI Gioele | Italy | @ 1 LAP |
| 20 | GODRIE Stan | Netherlands | 1 LAP |
| 21 | BOROŠ Michael | Czech Republic | 2 LAP |
| 22 | VANÍCEK Šimon | Czech Republic | 2 LAP |
| 23 | ANDERLE Florian | Germany | 2 LAP |
| 24 | LÜTHI Eric | Switzerland | 3 LAP |
| 25 | HAMM Floria | Germany | 4 LAP |
| 26 | ERIKSSON David | Switzerland | 4 LAP |
| VAN KESSEL Corne | Netherlands | DNF | |
| MEIN Thomas | United Kingdom | DNF | |
| FEIJOO ALBERTE Ivan | Spain | DNF |
Elite Men's Start List, November 6, 2021:
| 1 | ISERBYT Eli | Belgium |
| 2 | SOETE Daan | Belgium |
| 3 | HERMANS Quinten | Belgium |
| 4 | VANDEBOSCH Toon | Belgium |
| 5 | ADAMS Jens | Belgium |
| 6 | AERTS Toon | Belgium |
| 7 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | Belgium |
| 8 | SWEECK Laurens | Belgium |
| 9 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | Netherlands |
| 10 | VAN KESSEL Corne | Netherlands |
| 11 | GODRIE Stan | Netherlands |
| 12 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris | Netherlands |
| 13 | ORTS LLORET Felipe | Spain |
| 14 | FEIJOO ALBERTE Ivan | Spain |
| 15 | MENUT David | France |
| 16 | DUBAU Joshua | France |
| 17 | RÜEGG Timon | Switzerland |
| 18 | MOTTIEZ Gilles | Switzerland |
| 19 | KUHN Kevin | Switzerland |
| 20 | LÜTHI Eric | Switzerland |
| 21 | BERTOLINI Gioele | Italy |
| 22 | DORIGONI Jakob | Italy |
| 23 | MEISEN Marcel | Germany |
| 24 | ANDERLE Florian | Germany |
| 25 | HAMM Florian | Germany |
| 26 | BOROŠ Michael | Czech Republic |
| 27 | VANÍCEK Šimon | Czech Republic |
| 28 | MEIN Thomas | United Kingdom |
| 29 | ERIKSSON David | Sweden |
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Elite Women: Saturday, November 6, 2021
Lucinda Brand wins the Euro Cross Champs.
Weather at the nearby city of Hoogeveen at 1:10 PM, local time: 10C (50F), cloudy, with the wind from the southwest at 23 km/hr (14 mph). Thereis a 5% chance of rain, growing to 20% at 3:00 PM.
The race: Here's a machine-translation of the report from fifth-place Denise Betsema's Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal team:
No third medal for Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at the European Championships. Denise Betsema did not have her best legs and had to settle for fifth place. The title went to Lucinda Brand, ahead of Blanka Kata Vas and Yara Kastelijn.
With already four victories under her belt and the leader in the international ranking, Denise was considered the top favorite for the European title fight on the VAM mountain (not even that far from her Texel) for many followers, but an offday completely undermined that. Denise was briefly part of a large leading group in the initial phase, until it was beaten apart by the later winner Brand, and Denise finished the rest of the race on her own in fifth place.
"An off day.” reacted a disappointed Denise, who of course had also imagined much more of this European championship. But our Texel girl does not lose her motivation for what follows: "Recover quickly and go to Niel."
Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The Rise and Fall of Bicycle Racing's Champions is available as an audiobook here.
Complete results:
19.09 kilometers raced at an average speed of 23.677 km/hr
| 1 | BRAND Lucinda | Netherlands | 48min 22sec |
| 2 | VAS Kata Blanka | Hungary | @ 56sec |
| 3 | KASTELIJN Yara | Netherlands | 1:02 |
| 4 | ALVARADO Ceylin Del Carmen | Netherlands | 1:29 |
| 5 | BETSEMA Denise | Netherlands | 2:01 |
| 6 | CLAUZEL Hélène | France | 2:21 |
| 7 | WORST Annemarie | Netherlands | 2:34 |
| 8 | ARZUFFI Alice Maria | Italy | 2:50 |
| 9 | PERSICO Silvia | Italy | 2:58 |
| 10 | CANT Sanne | Belgium | 3:04 |
| 11 | VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge | Netherlands | 3:20 |
| 12 | VAN ALPHEN Aniek | Netherlands | 3:31 |
| 13 | LECHNER Eva | Italy | 3:43 |
| 14 | FRANCK Alicia | Belgium | 4:22 |
| 15 | VERHOEVEN Suzanne | Belgium | 4:42 |
| 16 | BARHOUMI Zina | Switzerland | 5:35 |
| 17 | BAKKER Manon | Netherlands | 5:55 |
| 18 | BRANDAU Elisabeth | Germany | 6:18 |
| 19 | KRÄHEMANN Lara | Switzerland | 6:32 |
| 20 | CLAUZEL Perrine | France | @ 1 LAP |
| 21 | TRUYEN Marthe | Belgium | 1 LAP |
| 22 | CASASOLA Sara | Italy | 1 LAP |
| 23 | HEIGL Nadja | Austria | 2 LAP |
| 24 | BOROWIECKA Barbara | Poland | 3 LAP |
| 25 | BIALEK Antonina | Poland | 3 LAP |
| 26 | SALMELA Kajsa | Finland | 3 LAP |
Elite Women's Start list, Novemeber 5, 2021:
| 1 | ALVARADO Ceylin Del Carmen | Netherlands |
| 2 | BRAND Lucinda | Netherlands |
| 3 | WORST Annemarie | Netherlands |
| 4 | KASTELIJN Yara | Netherlands |
| 5 | BETSEMA Denise | Netherlands |
| 6 | VAN ALPHEN Aniek | Netherlands |
| 7 | BAKKER Manon | Netherlands |
| 8 | VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge | Netherlands |
| 9 | CLAUZEL Perrine | France |
| 10 | CLAUZEL Hélène | France |
| 11 | LECHNER Eva | Italy |
| 12 | ARZUFFI Alice Maria | Italy |
| 13 | PERSICO Silvia | Italy |
| 14 | CASASOLA Sara | Italy |
| 15 | CANT Sanne | Belgium |
| 16 | FRANCK Alicia | Belgium |
| 17 | VERHOEVEN Suzanne | Belgium |
| 18 | TRUYEN Marthe | Belgium |
| 19 | BARHOUMI Zina | Switzerland |
| 20 | KRÄHEMANN Lara | Switzerland |
| 21 | BRANDAU Elisabeth | Germany |
| 22 | HEIGL Nadja | Austria |
| 23 | SALMELA Kajsa | Finland |
| 24 | VAS Kata Blanka | Hungary |
| 25 | BOROWIECKA Barbara | Poland |
| 26 | BIALEK Antonina | Poland |
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