The last day of the 2022 Walmart UCI Cyclocross World Championships brought warm weather where many riders were riding with bottles and cutting their long-sleeve skin suits to stay cool during their races. The weather is odd for cyclocross season, especially when many racers have been competing in mud and rain all year in Europe. The day’s highlight was the Junior Men’s race for the Americans marking one of their best performances in years, along with Curtis White (Delanson, N.Y.; Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) having the best Elite Men’s result since 2011.
Junior Men
The Junior Men had the best start so far in the World Championships. Frank O’Reilly (Pearl River, N.Y.; FinKraft Cycling Team), Magnus White (Boulder, Colo.; Boulder Junior Cycling), and Jack Spranger (Sammamish, Wash.; Bear National Team) all stayed in the lead group on the first lap. With a crash from one of the race favorite, David Haverdings (NED), Spranger and White got held up, pushing them farther back in the Top-15.
By lap two, Andrew August (Pittsford, N.Y.; Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com Devo) took a pull on the front and stayed in the front group of four. The chase caught up as the group headed out on lap three, adding Spranger back into the mix. But the rest of the Americans were still on the hunt. That group included O’Reilly, Marcis Shelton (Mill Valley, Calif.), and Daniel English (San Ramon, Calif.; Rock Lobster p/b Joseph Kochlacs Wood Products). On the steep right-hand turn, Spranger had an issue falling off the group.
Belgian rider Aaron Dockx attacked as he went out for lap four, breaking up the lead group. By that point, August sat in eighth with room to move up. On the second to last lap, August kept the hammer down and continued to pick off riders. He made his way up to fifth with Corentin Lequet (FRA), and their eyes were still on the lead group of Jan Christen (SUI), Dockx, and Nathan Smith (GBR). He could see the group up ahead but still had about 14 seconds to make up. It turned into a battle for fourth with August and Lequet.
The battle for the win came down to a swift bell lap, Dockx made a jump, then the three lined back up together, going three-wide as they took the last few turns to the finish line. Again, Dockx attacked, but Christen made the move and took the win. Then it was a photo finish for fourth, with 16-year-old August coming up a hair short, taking fifth, which was an incredible result from the young American.
August said, “I wasn’t expecting this, but I got into a position, and the legs felt good, and I just held it. The fans were just so loud, like nothing I ever heard.” August commented on the speed of the course, saying, “It’s a really fast course, and I knew it was going to be mostly group racing. So, I knew [a fast start] was going to be key. I didn’t get a great initial start, but I made it up on the first lap. On the third lap, going up the climb, the whole group was clumped together, and I kind of came off on the back foot of it, and the split happened, and I just missed it.”
The Team USA Junior Men put on a phenomenal show for the U.S. fans today. Unfortunately, race favorite Spranger suffered from a few issues in the race today, saying, “On the descent, David Haverdings crashed, and I was, not the rider just directly behind him, but the rider after that. I was already in the rut after he crashed, so I couldn’t do anything to avoid him. I had to slow down a bunch and wiggle around him. By that time, the rest of the group had gotten away from us on the descent. I fought back hard the rest of the lap and was able to catch back on to the front group after they sat up on the start straight. Then that next lap on the off-camber, after the pits, I got caught in the bottleneck and had to get off my bike awkwardly. I lost the group there again and couldn’t get back on after that. I was fighting in no man’s land working with some other people and couldn’t quite get back on the front.”
Results
1. Jan Christen (SUI) 43:11
2. Aaron Dockx (BEL) +0:01
3. Nathan Smith (GBR) +0:01
5. Andrew August (USA) +0:20
13. Jack Spranger (USA) +0:53
16. Marcis Shelton (USA) +1:09
17. Daniel English (USA) +1:10
24. Frank O’Reilly (USA) +2:05
25. Magnus White (USA) +2:06
U23 Women
Katie Clouse (Park City, Utah; Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) had a great start sitting second wheel at the first turn, solidifying her spot in the lead group as they took on lap one. On lap two, the lead group shrank, as the three Dutch riders, Shirin van Androoij (NED), Puck Pieterse (NED), Fem Van Empel (NED), controlled the race along with Line Burquier (FRA). Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing) settled in 49-seconds behind the lead group in seventh with the Czech Republic rider, Kristyna Zemanova. Clouse managed to stay in the top-ten, but was riding completely alone.
It all came down to the last lap where reigning World Champion Van Empel made a small mistake leaving Pieterse and van Androoij to the final sprint, where Pieterse would take the win. Munro sprinted to the line with Zemanova but came up a bit short, placing eighth with Clouse riding in right behind in ninth. The rest of the American squad had a great showing with Lizzy Gunsalus (Dudley, Mass.; Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com), Cassidy Hickey (Parker, Colo.), and Lauren Zoerner (Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Alpha Bicycles Co. – Groove Subaru) all rounding out the top 15.
Munro said, “It was good. It was a really exciting and special experience out there today. All the fans and the cheering were absolutely incredible. I couldn’t even hear myself breathing out there. It was so loud. I’m pretty happy with it.”
Munro explained her race a bit more from her perspective, “I didn’t have quite the fastest start as I was hoping for. I was really trying to make that front split on the first lap and be with that top group and couldn’t quite get there from the beginning. From there, it was just about trying to stay on any wheels that I could because I think it’s better to be riding in a group on this kind of course instead of solo. So, I was riding with another rider from the Czech Republic, and we kind of battled it out on the last lap. She ended up outsprinting me at the end.”
When asked if eighth was a result she could be happy about, she said, “I think so. As a racer, I’m always wanting more and always wanting to be at the front of the race and at the top, but I think how I performed mentally and psychically today was the best I could, so I’m happy with that effort.”
Clouse was happy with her top-ten finish and explained more about what happened on those opening laps. “I knew it was going to be super-fast. I think just racing wise, I knew on that climb was going to be the hardest part in making the split, but I think I just didn’t realize how hard they were going to push it over the top of the climb, and I tried to make it, but just couldn’t stay with them over the top,” said Clouse.
Results
1. Puck Pieterse (NED) 46:27
2. Shirin van Androoij (NED) +0:00
3. Fem Van Empel (NED) +0:12
8. Madigan Munro (USA) +2:16
9. Katie Clouse (USA) +3:03
12. Lizzy Gunsalus (USA) +4:01
14. Cassidy Hickey (USA) +4:29
15. Lauren Zoerner (USA) +4:34
17. Bridget Tooley (USA) +5:33
18. Ellie Mitchell (USA) +5:47
Elite Men
The start was as fast as expected, with a large lead group on the front. White and Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo.; Aevolo) were on the chase sitting in the top-15, with Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Blue-Stages Racing) not far behind.
The lead group was fast, and Olympic Mountain Bike Champion, Thomas Pidcock (GBR), knew he needed to make a move. He attacked on lap four, creating an eight-second gap and stringing out that front group. White was in the chase group sitting in 12th.
Pidcock grew his gap to 30-seconds, leaving a fight for silver between Lars van Der Haar (NED) and Eli Iserbyt (BEL). In White’s ninth World Championships, this was his best result in the elite category finishing in 12th.
White said, “That was, in most recent memory, the deepest I’ve had to dig. The fans, the spectators, really helped push that along, and just the atmosphere today is what we’ve been missing in these races to have the World Championships on home soil. To overcome staying healthy these last two years and to stick to the training process doing everything right and preparing for this event. I have been looking forward to having everyone come out and to have this atmosphere and to perform. I couldn’t be happier.”
The 12th place finish is tied with the best result the United States has seen since Jonathan Page was 12th in 2011 at the Sankt Wendel, Germany World Championships. The next best result prior to 2011 was when Page stood on the podium at Hooglede-Gits World Championships in 2007, placing second.
White commented on that feat, “I can go home very happy. The sacrifices to go over to Europe, to train, to learn from the best, to keep racing at that level, to keep living for sport, and to dedicate myself to this craft, then to have a ride like today... I can’t count many other days where I was this good. I am very happy with this performance and am thrilled to be able to perform in front of the home crowd. A lot has gone into this event, and I couldn’t be happier for myself and American cyclocross.”
Results
1. Thomas Pidcock (GBR) 1:00:36
2. Lars van Der Haar (NED) +0:30
3. Eli Iserbyt (BEL) +0:32
12. Curtis White (USA) +1:48
17. Eric Brunner (USA) +2:00
21. Kerry Werner (USA) +3:20
22. Caleb Swartz (USA) +3:20
24. Scott McGill (USA) +3:42
28. Gage Hecht (USA) +4:45
30. Lance Haidet (USA) +5:31
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