This is Ian Ackert’s first world cup course racing in Elite. Ian is an Ontario boy who is a phenomenal CX and MTB racer. He’s 2nd year U23 but races in elite if there is no U23 category. He’s now on race on Trek Future.
We are watching now but haven’t seen the result yet. He was in 11th or so after the first lap which was impressive.
The women’s race is definitely worth a watch. One of the most exciting in recent memory. Puck, Fem, Ceylin and Lucinda were all on course. The course is crazy tricky especially in the mud (which it was). Lucas raced on it last year and said it was his favorite because it was such and accomplishment just to finish. The muddy downhill and off camber were both epic.
Lucinda Brand’s handling on the off camber straight was particular impressive. She definitely demonstrated her technical experience.
He had a great start. Was good the announcers mentioned his good start on the live broadcast. He faded to I think 21st, but still super impressive on that course.
Agreed. He didn’t get any air time after the initial few laps…until they caught him near the finish and he was running up the hill. He still looked relatively clean.
Great start I think given that field and the fact that he is only 19! He will be racing through Christmas Cross so hopefully we’ll be able to catch more of him.
Yeah, both men’s and women’s races were excellent. I started the women’s race late (maybe 3 laps in) so I still want to go back to watch how it unfolded from the start.
I finally watched both races today on the trainer and immediately thought " I should post about this in the forum! " Glad you beat me to it.
Having the commentators mention Ian and being able to see him in row three and through the first few laps was amazing. What a race he had at such a legendary course. If there is anyone reading this that doesn’t follow cyclo-cross then the Namur race is a great place to start. You can watch all the races on Tiz Cycling without paying for an expensive subscription.
Conditions were pretty tame this year for Namur, I think one of my favorite years for race was 2020. Here’s a link to the men’s race that year, which was a great race in some tough (muddy) conditions.
Wow. That mud race in 2020 looks pretty epic especially with both Van Der Poel and Pidcock. I’m definitely going to queue that up for the next time I’m on Zwift (without a race). That course must be circus when its soaked.
Hulst and Zonhoven this weekend.
Hulst is the course that runs through a windmill and the muddy section by the reservoir. And Zonhoven has the epic sand descent.
It looks like Puck will be racing against Fem on both day which should make it pretty epic.
Ian Ackert is racing U23 but I don’t think that will be streamed. And my son Sagan will be racing junior along with 4 other Canadian boys!
All of the races this weekend have been exciting to watch.
Van der Poel was on first at Zonhoven. He took off like a bullet on his first lap and set the stage for the race. He made the top of the sandy climb look easy when most of the other riders were running it including Thibeau Nys. Just incredible. As a result of Mathieu’s pace almost half of the field was pulled (including Gunnar)!
Pretty solid battle for 2nd and 3rd though.
And the women’s race today was completely won on the uphill sandy straight. Great example of where skill can sometimes win or sometimes lose a race. Ava Holmgren was have an great race and broke the top 10…until she cooked the downhill in the sand and had a bad crash. She dropped out of the race. I hope she’s okay. She has not had any luck in the past year or two.
Conditions were pretty brutal in the morning. The junior race was delayed by 30 minutes due to sleet and hail. The Canadian juniors had to try to warm up by doing jumping jacks in the truck. My son Sagan was disappointed with his race and went down a number of times in the sand and mud. He was at the very back at one point. The toughest course he’s raced so far. Definitely need more sand and mud practice
Sagan said the crowds were awesome though. And one of his teammates was walking down the road when Van der Poel drove up in his Lamborghini. Mathieu waved at him which was pretty cool.
Amazing racing in the past few days. We just finished watching the Mol race. Sweek was amazing in the sand. It almost looked like he had a hope of holding Van Der Poel’s wheel. But no.
I found the transcript of the announcers poem
Was Christmas Eve eve and all about the Cross not a rider was doubting just who was boss. Vander Poel they shout whether Belgian or Dutch, never doubting he has his own midas touch. For when Christmas has come there’s only one Santa Claus he wears rainbow bands and he’s winning of course
In case anyone is interested in seeing the course before the Besancon race tomorrow, my son Sagan recorded a course pre-ride from France today. Besançon Cyclocross World Cup 2024
Just watched the men’s race at Diegem. One of the best races to watch this year (IMO). Tight racing for most of the race with no obvious leader. ~10 riders up front for quite a few laps. No Mathieu or Wout but that made for a more exciting race.
