Search our site:

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Namur Cyclo-cross podium history | 2020 edition | 2023 edition

Weather at Namur at 2:30 PM, local time: 6C (42F), fog, with the wind from the north at 6 km/hr (4 mph). There is just a 6% chance of rain during the afternoon.

Complete results: Men | Women

Men:

Michael Vanthourenhout approaches the finish more than a half-minute ahead of second-place Tom Pidcock. Photo: Cyclephotos

Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Here's the UCI's race report.

A wonderful victory for Michael Vanthourenhout today on the Citadelle de Namur. After a long race chasing, he was able to pull away from top favourite Tom Pidcock in lap 5. After a few slips by the latter, he managed to beat the young Briton by more than half a minute in the 11th round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.

From lap 1, the road to victory seemed open for Toon Aerts (Baloise Trek Lions). He immediately put an elite group of chasers a few seconds behind. At an unseen pace, he was able to maintain his lead for a few laps. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who started to overtake the other men from behind, was right on his heels until lap 4.

After a slide and flat tyre for Aerts, he had to let the British champion go. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) also jumped from the background over Aerts. And Quinten Hermans (Tormans Circus Cyclo Cross), who was also riding a strong race, had to let the men in front go due to problems with his shoes.

For a moment it looked like Pidcock would race solo to victory, but after a few technical errors it was on and on for Vanthourenhout who saw his lead on the Briton increase in the last two laps. With tears in his eyes, Vanthourenhout crossed the finish line of the 11th round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Namur after seven incredibly hard laps. Tom Pidcock finished second at 36 seconds, followed by Toon Aerts at 51 seconds.

Complete results:

Women:

Lucinda Brand wins Namur Cross for the fourth time in a row.

The race: Here's the UCI's race report:

Namur proved once again that the 11th round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup would not be a World Cup without the round on the Citadel of Namur. The citadelcross provided a spectacular race for the women elite, where an overpowering Lucinda Brand put on a one-woman show.

In the first lap, Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) were able to break away from the chasing women. Not much later Brand continued her acceleration, putting Betsema at a distance. In lap 2 she was able to take 6 seconds on the chasing woman of Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal.

After a few clear rounds, Brand started to get tired and made some mistakes. In the 4th lap, she even crashed when she doubled the Canadian Walcroft on the course. Yet her lead on Betsema did not diminish. On the contrary. The reigning world champion extended her lead to about 14 seconds thanks to her strong descents.

In the background Betsema pulled out all the stops, but it was to no avail. The Dutch rider finished in second place. Puck Pieterse also rode the entire race alone on her way to bronze. In the last lap it was clear that her legs were getting sore as well, but still she could stay ahead of the chasing Fem van Empel and Ceylin Alvarado and took the third place on the podium.

Complete results:

.