Last week the Cyclocross world buried itself in a pit... and there was much rejoicing. Yep, it's the cycling world's most beloved pit of sand, the Superprestige Zonhoven, and our man Patrick Verhoest was there!
Want to relive it? Here's an abbreviated women's race, won of course by Sanne Cant:
And the men's race in full, featuring the latest titanic struggle between world champion kiddos Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel.
This Sunday the scene shifts east to Valkenburg, in the Limburg region of the Netherlands, known to many of us as where they run the Amstel Gold Race. This is a World Cup event, the third of the year but first in Europe, after two early rounds in the US (won handily by Van Aert on the men's side, with Sophie de Boer and Katie Compton splitting the honors for the ladies). There's also a nice swampy ride in Boom for tomorrow, for those who don't care much about the World Cup, or are so awesome they can do two races in a weekend. Last year Lars van der Haar was the star, taking the honors over Van Aert and (sniff) Sven Nys.
Update! Ardooie already happened, today. Wout won.
Enhoy!
All gallery photos by Patrick Verhoest.