Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) has taken his first victory of the cyclocross season, just 24 hours ahead of his first clash of 2022-23 with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and two weeks out from the Dublin round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup.
Pidcock was best today in X2O Trofee Kortrijk-Urban Cross, collecting his first win in the world champion's jersey since winning the title back in February in the US.
Today he finished just three seconds ahead of the two riders vying for 2nd and 3rd; Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) winning that battle over Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) after nine laps of racing.
The eventual top three were part of a five-rider group - with Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) and European champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) - who pulled clear very early. However, while Pidcock soon pressed ahead of the others, it was far from a dominant ride that secured the victory for him.
Advertisement
Related News
Wereldkampioene @marianne_vos wint in Kortrijk haar eerste van het seizoen! Na een spannend duel met @AlvaradoCeylin is ze de sterkste in de sprint.#x2obadkamerstrofee #urbancrossKortrijk #Veldrijden #cyclocross pic.twitter.com/7fSnxr8ZBR
— X²O Badkamers Trofee (@X2OTrofee) November 26, 2022
He spent much of the race just nine seconds up on the best of the chasers, as Nys first lost his place in that chasing group. Van der Haar then pressed on alone, reducing the gap to Pidcock from 12 seconds down to just six seconds with three laps remaining. Iserbyt then came through to join Van de Haar, with that duo keeping Pidcock honest all the way to the line, and finishing just three seconds behind him. Vanthourenhout finished a distant 4th at one minute.
In the women's race, Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) took victory in a two-up sprint over Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck), making it two wins today by the world champions.
That duo pulled clear very early in the race with eventual 3rd place finisher Denis Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), who put in a big effort on the second lap to establish a gap for the leading trio. However, while the leaders stayed together for most of the race, it was Alvarado who took the initiative on the final lap.
Her efforts resulted in Betsema being distanced, though Vos showed no such weakness; going to the line with Alvarado and beating her to victory. Betsema finished in 3rd at 10 seconds while Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) was 4th at 54 seconds.
