2022 European Cyclocross Championships
November 5 & 6, 2022: Namur, Belgium
European Cyclocross Championships podium history | 2021 edition| 2023 edition | Course map
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Elite Men: Sunday, November 6, 2022
Winner Michael Vanthourenhout celebrates his solo win. Photo: Photopress.be
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Weather at the nearby city of Namur at 2:00 PM, local time: 10C (50F), rain, with the wind from the south at 21 km/hr (13 mph). The rain is forecast to continue through 7:00 PM.
The race: Here is a machine translation of the race report from winner Michael Vanthourenhout's Team Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal.
Michael blasts to European gold!
The first championship title for our Michael Vanthourenhout is a fact: after Fem van Empel, Michael took care of our second European Championship gold at the Citadel of Namur. Two European star jerseys: that will be fun in the coming weeks!
Michael Vanthourenhout did not carry the big favorite role during the European championships in Namur. But his beloved climbing course on the Citadel and a heavy rain shower provided conditions that our Belgian likes very much. Despite a few falls, Michael went up and over Lars van der Haar with a big lead to the European title. Eli Iserbyt injured himself with a mistake and gave up, Ryan Kamp drove an excellent cross, but was not rewarded with a close place of honor after a mistake.
Michael Vanthourenhout: “This means a lot. This is the biggest win of my life: I have never been able to race in a champion jersey in the elite category. This was one of the toughest races I ever did. I felt my legs were very good, but I made a lot of mistakes in the third lap. It was very hard to catch up with Lars afterwards, but I kept pushing hard throughout the cross. I think I was a little better on the bevels, the technical sections, and that made all the difference. I love this race.”
Complete results:
24.74 kilometers raced at an average speed of 24.20 km/hr
31 entries, 17 classified finishers, 9 riders lapped, 4 did not finish, 1 did not start.
| 1 | Michael Vanthourenhout | Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal | BEL | 1hr 6min 47sec |
| 2 | Lars van der Haar | Baloise Trek Lions | NED | @ 40sec |
| 3 | Laurens Sweeck | Crelan-Fristads | BEL | 2:17 |
| 4 | Joris Nieuwenhuis | Baloise Trek Lions | NED | 2:48 |
| 5 | Kevin Kuhn | Tromans Cyclo Cross Team | SUI | 2:51 |
| 6 | Felipe Orts Lloret | Borgos-BH | ESP | 2:54 |
| 7 | Michael Boros | Cross Team Legendre | CZE | 3:03 |
| 8 | Toon Vandebosch | Alpecin-Deceunbinck | BEL | 3:13 |
| 9 | Mees Hendrikx | Crelan-Fristads | NED | 3:16 |
| 10 | Timon Rüegg | Cross Team Legendre | SUI | 3:22 |
| 11 | Niels Vandeputte | Alpecin-Deceunbinck | BEL | 3:27 |
| 12 | Gioele Bertolini | Selle Italia-Guerciotti-Elite | ITA | 3:33 |
| 13 | Ryan Kamp | Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal | NED | 3:41 |
| 14 | Loris Rouiller | Cross Team Legendre | SUI | 4:02 |
| 15 | Marcel Meisen | Lotto-Kern Haus | GER | 4:29 |
| 16 | David Menut | Cross Team Legendre | FRA | 4:46 |
| 17 | Gilles Mottiez | Cross Team Legendre | SUI | 5:03 |
| 18 | Joshua Dubau | Peltrax-CS Dammarie-lès-Lys | FRA | -1 lap |
| 19 | Johan Jacobs | Movistar | SUI | -1 lap |
| 20 | Mats Tubaas Glende | MTB-Norway | NOR | -2 laps |
| 21 | Toby Barnes | WiV SunGod | GBR | -2 laps |
| 22 | David Risberg | Ind-Sweden | SWE | -2 laps |
| 23 | Florian Hamm | Schamel-Kloster Kitchen | GER | -4 laps |
| 24 | David Eriksson | Mölndas Cykelklubb | SWE | -4 laps |
| 25 | Henrik Jansson | Individual (?) | SWE | -4 laps |
| 26 | Daniel Federspiel | Team Vorarlberg | AUT | -4 laps |
| Quinten Hermans | AUT | DNF | ||
| Thomas Mein | BEL | DNF | ||
| Daan Soete | BEL | DNF | ||
| Eli Iserbyt | BEL | DNF | ||
| Jens Adams | BEL | DNS |
Men's start list, revised November 4, 2022:
| 1 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | NED |
| 2 | HENDRIKX Mees | NED |
| 3 | KAMP Ryan | NED |
| 4 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris | NED |
| 5 | ADAMS Jens | BEL |
| 6 | HERMANS Quinten | BEL |
| 7 | ISERBYT Eli | BEL |
| 8 | SOETE Daan | BEL |
| 9 | SWEECK Laurens | BEL |
| 10 | VANDEBOSCH Toon | BEL |
| 11 | VANDEPUTTE Niels | BEL |
| 12 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | BEL |
| 13 | DUBAU Joshua | FRA |
| 14 | MENUT David | FRA |
| 15 | BERTOLINI Gioele | ITA |
| 16 | JACOBS Johan | SUI |
| 17 | KUHN Kevin | SUI |
| 18 | MOTTIEZ Gilles | SUI |
| 19 | ROUILLER Loris | SUI |
| 20 | RÜEGG Timon | SUI |
| 21 | HAMM Florian | GER |
| 22 | MEISEN Marcel | GER |
| 23 | ORTS LLORET Felipe | ESP |
| 24 | BOROŠ Michael | CZE |
| 25 | ERIKSSON David | SWE |
| 26 | JANSSON Henrik | SWE |
| 27 | RISBERG David | SWE |
| 28 | BARNES Toby | GBR |
| 29 | MEIN Thomas | GBR |
| 30 | FEDERSPIEL Daniel | AUT |
| 31 | GLENDE Mats Tubaas | NOR |
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Elite Women: Saturday, November 5, 2022
Fem van Empel is the European Cyclocross Champion. Photo: Veldrit Newspaper
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Weather at the nearby city of Namur at 12:45 PM, local time: 9C (49F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the south at 16 km/hr (10 mph). There is a 2% chance of rain, rising to 20% at 4:00 PM.
The race: Fem van Empel was very strong last season and did not disappoint at the 2022 European Cyclocross Championships. The young talented Dutchwoman decided to start with the elite ladies and was able to earn the European cross title.
A few laps after the start she became part of a lead trio, along with Blanka Vas and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. But she had bad luck and had to drop back a bit to change bikes.
Van Empel did not give up and gave chase. She caught up with Blanka Vas and with two laps to, got up to the front with Alvarado.
Quickly, van Empel dropped Alvarado who moments later saw her race away and win the European title.
Complete results:
22 riders entered, 18 timed finishers, 3 lapped riders, 1 did not finish.
16.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 19.157 km/hr
| 1 | Fem van Empel | Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal | NED | 50min 25sec |
| 2 | Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado | Alpecin-Deceuninck | NED | @ 22sec |
| 3 | Blanka Vas | SD Worx | HUN | 0:36 |
| 4 | Denise Betsema | Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal | NED | 0:46 |
| 5 | Sara Casasola | Selle Italia-Guerciotti-Elite | ITA | 1:53 |
| 6 | Inge Van Der Heijden | 777 | NED | 2:06 |
| 7 | Pauline Ferrand-Prevot | BMC MTB Racing | FRA | 2:26 |
| 8 | Aniek Van Alphen | 777 | NED | 2:56 |
| 9 | Marianne Vos | Jumbo-Visma | NED | 3:07 |
| 10 | Anna Kay | 777 | GBR | 3:15 |
| 11 | Helene Clauzel | AS Bike Racing | FRA | 3:28 |
| 12 | Rebecca Gariboldi | Team Cingolani | ITA | 3:48 |
| 13 | Marion Norbert Riberolle | Crelan-Fristads | BEL | 4:44 |
| 14 | Laura Verdonschot | De Ceuster Bonache | BEL | 4:53 |
| 15 | Perrine Clauzel | AS Bike Racing | FRA | 5:11 |
| 16 | Anaïs Morichon | Centre-Val de Loire | FRA | 6:03 |
| 17 | Sanne Cant | Crelan-Fristads | BEL | 6:51 |
| 18 | Isabelle Klein | Andy Schleck-CP NVST | LUX | 7:01 |
| 19 | Antonina Bialek | Individual (?) | POL | @ 1 lap |
| 20 | Maud Kaptheijns | Deschacht-Hens-Maes | NED | @ 1 lap |
| 21 | Stefanie Paul | Wheel Divas | GER | @ 2 laps |
| Annemarie Worst | 777 | Ned | DNF | |
Women's start list, revised November 4, 2022:
| 1 | VOS Marianne | Ned |
| 2 | ALVARADO Ceylin Del Carmen | Ned |
| 3 | BETSEMA Denise | Ned |
| 4 | KAPTHEIJNS Maud | Ned |
| 5 | VAN ALPHEN Aniek | Ned |
| 6 | VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge | Ned |
| 7 | VAN EMPEL Fem | Ned |
| 8 | WORST Annemarie | Ned |
| 9 | VAS Kata Blanka | Hun |
| 10 | CLAUZEL Hélène | Fra |
| 11 | CLAUZEL Perrine | Fra |
| 12 | FERRAND PREVOT Pauline | Fra |
| 13 | MORICHON Anaïs | Fra |
| 14 | CASASOLA Sara | Ita |
| 15 | GARIBOLDI Rebecca | Ita |
| 16 | CANT Sanne | Bel |
| 17 | NORBERT RIBEROLLE Marion | Bel |
| 18 | VERDONSCHOT Laura | Bel |
| 19 | PAUL Stefanie | Ger |
| 20 | BIALEK Antonina | Pol |
| 21 | KAY Anna | GBR |
| 22 | KLEIN Isabelle | Lux |
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Course map:
European Cross Championships map