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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, January 5, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge. - Benjamin Disraeli

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Upcoming racing:

January 18 - 26: Tour Down Under
January 25 - February 2: Challenge Vuelta a Mallorca
January 25: Ruta de la Cerámica - Gran Premio Castellón
January 26: Classica Comunitat a Valenciana 1969
February 2: GP La Marseillaise

Latest completed racing:

January 3: X20 Trofee Koksijde-Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Cross
January 1: GP Sven Nys Cross
December 30: Diegem Cyclocross
December 26: Gavere Cyclocross
December 27: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
December 15: Namur Cyclocross-Citadelcross
November 17: Flandriencross
November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross

Wout van Aert & Lucinda Brand win Superprestige Gullegem cross race

A bit muddy from the effort, winner Wout van Aert solos across the line.

The race: Here's a machine-translation of the report from winner Wout van aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Wout van Aert has won the Superprestige race in Gullegem. The 30-year-old Belgian shook himself free from Eli Iserbyt in the final lap. It was the first victory of the season in the field for Van Aert.

Van Aert dived into the field again in Gullegem, West Flanders. The three-time world champion started from the third starting row, but he made his way to the front of the race in no time. On the technical course, the race remained closed for a long time.

Halfway through the race, a group of four, including Van Aert, formed the leading group. A little later, only the Belgian champion Iserbyt had an answer to a new acceleration by Van Aert. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader then continued to put pressure on Iserbyt, who had to let Van Aert go. It was the first victory of the season in the field for the Belgian, who is mainly focusing on the upcoming road season.

“This victory came as a surprise to me,” Van Aert responded afterwards. “I didn’t expect to be able to beat these guys on this course. On the technical parts, I sometimes had trouble following the others, but I knew that the difficult course would start to weigh on me. In the last lap, I increased the pace again, which ultimately proved to be enough to take the win. I’m very happy with that.”

“It’s still great fun to win,” Van Aert adds. “I started here with low expectations, so of course I’m happy with how I feel now. I had to dig deep today, but tomorrow there’s another tough race in Dendermonde. I’ll give it my all again there. I’m looking forward to it.”

Men's race results: