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As the Twelfth Night arrives, so does the end of the ‘Kerstperiode’. The days of feasting, drinking and forced fun are behind us, just as the two weeks of cyclocross epics draw to a close.
Throughout the muckiest discipline’s celebrated Christmas-New Year period, there have been thrills and literal spills, the return and – hopefully temporary – recline of a world champion, his arch-rival has also made a successful comeback to the field months after a season-ending crash at the Vuelta, and the elite women cannot help but light up every course they encounter.
Before Christmas, we brought you volume 1 of the Kerstperiode gallery, in which Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Mathieu van der Poel featured heavily. Neither have diminished completely from the more busy act II, but many more players entered or re-entered the stage, including a recovered Fem van Empel, Laurens Sweeck, Wout van Aert and the ever-consistent Lucinda Brand.
World Cup Gavere (Thursday 26th Dec) – Fem van Empel and Mathieu van der Poel
Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross (Friday 27th Dec) – Marion Norbert Riberolle and Mathieu van der Poel
World Cup Besançon (Sunday 29th Dec) – Fem van Empel and Mathieu van der Poel
Superprestige Gullegem (Saturday 4th Jan) – Lucinda Brand and Wout van Aert
World Cup Dendermonde (Sunday 5th Jan) – Lucinda Brand and Wout van Aert
Fem van Empel was forced to sit out the previous World Cup round in Hulst just before Christmas, but she was back with a bang in Gavere, taking the lead before the end of the first lap.Puck Pieterse was on her compatriot’s case early on, but much of her race would be defined by the battle for second with Lucinda Brand.Zoe Backstedt continues to smash it among the elites …… as does Blanka Vas.But they could not prevent the top trio of Pieterse, Brand and Van Empel from dominating the podium.World Cup-leader Brand won the duel with Pieterse to take second and increase her series lead.Fem van Empel won by a convincing 37 seconds.Leonie Bentveld took a moment to herself at the finish.The elite men were up next …… which meant the return of Mathieu van der Poel for his third race of the season.The hole shot belonged to Thibau Nys, but despite taking third, the European champion could have had a better day. The low point came when he tried to scoop mud from his front tyre by hand while still in motion, and superlative handling notwithstanding, the 22-year-old quickly found himself in the mud as he was thrown off balance with his hands off the bars.After a less-than-ideal 10th place at World Cup Zonhoven, series leader Michael Vanthourenhout had a much better day in Gavere, sticking best with Van der Poel and eventually finishing second.Lars van der Haar remains Mr Consistent.Van der Poel ultimately sealed his third consecutive victory by 26 seconds – as expected.Next stop: Exact Cross Loenhout.Reigning champ and five-time winner Sanne Cant was electric from the start, as was British national champ Anna Kay on her wheel.The Belgian national champion enjoyed a good stint at the front of the race in her final professional season, but Marion Norbert Riberolle was not interested in letting romance win, and soon moved ahead of her legendary compatriot.Riberolle left Cant behind to take her second Exact Cross win of the season two months after victory in Essen.Meanwhile, Van der Poel and lifetime rival Wout van Aert greeted one another before the start of the men’s race. Van Aert was making his delayed season debut after a stomach bug kept him from Superprestige Mol.However, the world champion would still prove to be unmatched.Fellow road pro Tim Merlier was also making his CX debut at Loenhout, and in the first lap, the three roadies led the race.Merlier was first of them to fade, and Van Aert appeared a little rusty on the punchy Loenhout course, a few mistakes and mishaps holding the former three-time world champion back.Laurens Sweeck came closest to threatening Van der Poel. The Crelan-Corendon rider chased up to the world champion at the end of lap three, and though he was soon dispatched, Sweeck hung on for a terrific podium finish.Sweeck was joined late in the race by Thibau Nys and Van Aert in the fight for the podium, but an unfortunate run-in with a fan’s elbow knocked Van Aert out of contention in the last lap …… as Van der Poel reached out for another win, though not before a heavy fall against a corner post that would have repercussions in the week to come.The elite world champion then swapped his Lamborghini for a private jet for the 600-kilometre trip to Besançon and the next World Cup round, kicked off by young compatriot Tibor Del Grosso. The U23 world champion – who demonstrates here just how chilly it was in France – has won every U23 race he’s entered so far this CX season.The French fans were out in force to cheer on their heroes, including national champion Hélène Clauzel, in Besançon. They’ll get another chance at the beginning of February for the World Championships in Liévin.Lucinda Brand and Zoe Backstedt were both hot out of the blocks.Backstedt’s under-23 rival Marie Schreiber had a day to forget in Besançon, finishing 18th and slipping behind Backstedt in the overall standings.Blanka Vas had the best race of her season so far with a first visit to the podium in third.Marianne Vos made her debut in France, finishing fifth. After a planned appearance at the Dutch National Championships, Vos will then race World Cup rounds in Benidorm and Hoogerheide.Van Empel made it two from two.A very confident Toon Aerts got a good start on the frozen French course, briefly giving Van der Poel some company.Niels Vandeputte is flying this season.As is Thomas Mein, the young Brit whose steady rise has this Christmas seen him become a quietly consistent presence, peaking with sixth at Besançon.Win number five for Van der Poel.The popular night cross event at Diegem came next.The Belgian national champion continues to enjoy the biggest and longest farewell party known to humanity at the race she won thrice between 2013 and 2019.Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has finished everywhere on the podium but the top step at the famous Diegem festival – the wait continues.Inge van der Heijden is another rider who enjoys this flood-lit race, ultimately scoring a consecutive third place.Meanwhile, Lucinda Brand returned to winning ways for the first time since Dublin, breaking her run of second- and third-place finishes.Laurens Sweeck brought the stellar form shown at Superprestige Mol and Exact Cross Loenhout to Diegem and powered through the Diegem course.Niels Vandeputte was another rider seeking to capitalise on the absence of the ‘Big Two’.A little over a day after winning the U23 race in Besançon, Tibor Del Grosso gave the elites a run for their money in Diegem, eventually finishing fourth and putting away some veterans of CX.The race was not without incident, and Eli Iserbyt was caught up in an unlucky crash with Jente Michels and Anton Ferdinande.Thibau Nys had high expectations for Superprestige Diegem, but the young European champion was very critical of himself post-race, telling media, “I let myself be lulled to sleep too much.” Nys finished third in the end.Sweeck was delighted to outpace Niels Vandeputte for his first win of the Kerstperiode.The GP Sven Nys at Baal came next, and expectations were sky high for Thibau Nys and his teammates on the newly christened Baloise Glowi Lions.The mud proved a worthy rival for the elite women’s field and with the world champion forced to chase after a crash early on, Puck Pieterse led from the front as the chance to finally take the first win of the season sharpened into focus.Almost no one came out without a crash or mechanical issue as the race evolved, and shortly after a heavy crash for Pieterse, Brand accelerated up the road section to take the lead.Van Empel, meanwhile, was engaged in a relentless chase from deep in the top 10 all the way up to second by the bell.Close, really close.The world champion caught her older compatriot just before the turn onto the finishing straight and a hard-fought sprint ensued. It was a photo finish …… won by Van Empel – remarkable after such a dramatic hour for the world champion, who was quick to congratulate a dejected Brand on a thrilling race at the finish.Eli Iserbyt saw his chance on the punchy terrain.Youngsters Emiel Verstrynge and Pim Ronhaar proved at home in the gloopy mud.January 1st doesn’t see quite the kit turnover in CX as we get on the road side, but a few teams did switch things up, including Seven Racing, formerly Cyclocross Reds, whose Cameron Mason got a smart new British national champ’s jersey from new kit supplier Maap.Thank you, Pim Ronhaar, for giving us a good look at those new team colours.Eli Iserbyt – also in fresh kit as Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal became Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines – took his fourth win of a topsy-turvy season in a race that means a great deal to him: “As a child I watched the cross in Baal, it was the reason I wanted to become a crosser. To win here, it does me a lot of good.”The sandy Koksijde race came next – and our photographer Kristof Ramon set about experimenting with some beautiful cinematic shots at the popular Duinencross.Lucinda Brand and Fem van Empel were never far from the action in the dunes.But it was the turn of Puck Pieterse to take a well-earned victory, her first of the 24-25 season.In the men’s race (no more pictures, I’m afraid!), Laurens Sweeck doubled up ahead of the soaring Tibor Del Grosso and Toon Aerts.The final weekend of the Kerstperiode kicked off with Superprestige Gullegem. Note the extra-striking new kit worn by Zoe Backstedt of Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto.One of these days, Backstedt’s powerful early efforts is going to stick.For much of the early laps, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Zoe Backstedt and Leonie Bentveld led the race.Lucinda Brand was gaining, though, and joined the front just as the bell rang for the final lap. In short order, the Dutch veteran dispatched Bentveld, then Alvarado and Backstedt, whose duel for second fast became heated.Trading blows.Brand is nothing if not resilient.The elite men’s race marked Van Aert’s first free-and-clear chance to take victory without the world champion to throw a spanner in the works.Merlier was motivated too, but it was not his day.There was a solid group of eight or nine who seemed evenly matched in the first couple of laps, but they soon began to split into smaller factions.Vanthourenhout carefully marked Van Aert from the start.Lars van der Haar also kept in touch until the later laps. Ultimately the standout moment for the former European champion was the moment he managed to relocate his dislocated shoulder using his bike saddle in the fourth lap – not an irregular occurrence for Van der Haar, believe it or not.In the end, it became a close duel between Van Aert and Iserbyt, with Vanthourenhout and Joran Wyseure left to fight for third.The lead changed hands several times with both riders attempting to shake the other from their wheels, but it was Iserbyt who ultimately fell away after a string of mistakes and mishaps.Van Aert then soloed to the finish where he gave an unusual celebration in tribute to his son Georges’ fourth birthday.The grand finale took place in a rain-saturated Dendermonde, where the mud just got muddier all afternoon.Sloppy, swampy, wet, cold.Lucinda Brand wanted to get to the finish as fast as damn possible.Zoe Backstedt, now U23 World Cup leader, had a characteristically strong start that culminated in fifth place at the end of the race.Puck Pieterse raced a steady race to finish second …… weathering the course, and Lady Luck, just better than Fem van Empel, who fell victim to numerous punctures but still managed third on the day.Brand was on a mission, though …… and with victory at Dendermonde, the 35-year-old extended her streak of podium finishes to a whopping 32.The men’s race got off to a busy start, pre-race favourite and Gullegem winner Wout van Aert stuck a few rows back on the start line.Pim Ronhaar had a very strong start.But Wout van Aert soon made it to the front, and only Emiel Verstrynge could follow.And before long, Van Aert was striding away from his last remaining competition.Michael Vanthourenhout, the bravest man in Belgium 🫣Mud, glorious mud.In the last lap, with over a minute’s advantage to Verstrynge – the young Belgian on course for a career best result – Van Aert was able almost to pause on the flyover to observe his competition.Victory number two of 2025.A good day.
