The top riders reacted very differently to the very high winds that caused the UCI World Cup to be called off in Belgium today. World champion Wout van Aert did these figure of 8s in the sand, above. And the man he took the title from, Mathieu Van der Poel, expressed his displeasure and did a six hour bike ride home.
Winds of up to 100kph forced the cancellation of one of the most-eagerly awaited UCI Cyclocross World Cup events on the calendar today.
Koksijde in Belgium was the venue for today’s scheduled races which included junior, U23 and elite men’s and women’s.
Teams and riders as well as staff and media travelled from all over the world to be present only to learn news of the fixture’s cancellation this morning.
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The sport’s governing body, the UCI, made an official announcement via social media stating all events would be called off. No date has been set for a rescheduling.
Indeed, with winds ripping through the venue overnight and all morning it was a dangerous place to be, as the first video just below shows.
As well as the sand dunes being affected by the conditions, the advertising hoardings seemed anything but safe to be near.
World champion Wout van Aert packed up and went to do some figure of 8s in the sand – clearly later in the day and away from the venue when the winds had ceased.
Former world champion Mathieu Van der Poel Tweeted that the decision to call off the races was made too soon, some 4½ hours before the elite events were due to get underway.
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So he got into his gear and cycled home; doing 200km in just over 6 hours (as you do when a gale is blowing) and posting the ride on Strava, below.
The next round of the World Cup series is scheduled for Zeven, Germany next weekend.
Soft day re-arranging the venue
Als je dit ziet is afgelasting de enige juiste keuze. Jammere zaak, maar veiligheid gaat voor! #TelenetUCICXWC #Koksijde pic.twitter.com/FEFOsVJIyr
— Gianni Vermeersch (@GVermeersch) November 20, 2016
Wout van Aert's figure of 8s
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Unhappy van der Poel's ride home
Still 4u30 till the race starts, decision was made way too fast in my opinion. They predict less wind this afternoon. #cxweahter
— Mathieu Van der Poel (@mathieuvdpoel) November 20, 2016
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