2016–17 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup
The 2016–2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup – also known as the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup for sponsorship reasons – was a season long cyclo-cross competition, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The competition took place between 21 September 2016 and 22 January 2017, over a total of nine[a] events. The defending champions were Wout van Aert in the men's competition and Sanne Cant in the women's competition.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Location | United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany & Italy |
| Races | 9[a] |
| Champions | |
| Male individual champion | Wout van Aert (BEL) (Crelan–Vastgoedservice & Vérandas Willems–Crelan[b]) |
| Female individual champion | Sophie de Boer (NED) (Kalas–NNOF & Breepark[c]) |
Van Aert was able to defend his World Cup title with a round to spare, not finishing any lower than second in the seven races – four wins and three second-place finishes – prior to his crowning. His main rival Mathieu van der Poel was the only other rider to take victories prior to the title being won, taking three straight wins during the season, but he missed several meetings, including the Memorial Romano Scotti in Rome, which allowed van Aert to take the title.[1]
With six different winners in as many races, the women's competition proved competitive. After a win at CrossVegas, Dutch rider Sophie de Boer held the leaders' jersey and despite Katie Compton taking the jersey after the following round at the Jingle Cross, de Boer was able to regain the jersey with consistent finishing. Over the next five races – despite not winning any races – de Boer achieved finishes of second, fourth, third and sixth, and with Cant missing the round in Rome, another third-place finish gave de Boer her first Cyclo-cross World Cup title.[2]
Points distribution
Points were awarded to all eligible riders each race. The top ten finishers received points according to the following table:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 80 | 70 | 65 | 60 | 55 | 50 | 48 | 46 | 44 | 42 |
Riders finishing in positions 11 to 50 also received points, going down from 40 points for 11th place by one point per place to 1 point for 50th place.
Events
In comparison to last season's seven races, this season was scheduled to have nine. Lignières-en-Berry was taken out of the programme – while Rome (Fiuggi), Iowa and Zeven were added.
| Date | Race | Location | Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elite men | Elite women | Under-23 men | Junior men | |||
| 21 September | CrossVegas | Las Vegas, United States | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Sophie de Boer (NED) | No under-23 or junior race | |
| 24 September | Jingle Cross | Iowa City, United States | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Katie Compton (USA) | ||
| 23 October | Caubergcross | Valkenburg, Netherlands | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Thalita de Jong (NED) | Gioele Bertolini (ITA) | Yentl Bekaert (BEL) |
| 20 November | Duinencross | Koksijde, Belgium | Races cancelled due to bad weather | |||
| 26 November | Poldercross Zeven | Zeven, Germany | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Sanne Cant (BEL) | Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) | Jelle Camps (BEL) |
| 18 December | Citadelcross | Namur, Belgium | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Kateřina Nash (CZE) | Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) | Tom Pidcock (GBR) |
| 26 December | Grand Prix Erik De Vlaeminck | Heusden-Zolder, Belgium | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Marianne Vos (NED) | Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) | Thymen Arensman (NED) |
| 15 January | Memorial Romano Scotti | Fiuggi, Italy | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Marianne Vos (NED) | Eli Iserbyt (BEL) | Antoine Benoist (FRA) |
| 22 January | Grand Prix Adri van der Poel | Hoogerheide, Netherlands | Lars van der Haar (NED) | Marianne Vos (NED) | Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) | Tom Pidcock (GBR) |
Final individual standings
Men
| Rank | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wout van Aert (BEL) | 530 |
| 2 | Kevin Pauwels (BEL) | 474 |
| 3 | Tom Meeusen (BEL) | 447 |
| 4 | Michael Vanthourenhout (BEL) | 384 |
| 5 | Laurens Sweeck (BEL) | 373 |
| 6 | Corné van Kessel (NED) | 345 |
| 7 | Tim Merlier (BEL) | 344 |
| 8 | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | 304 |
| 9 | Toon Aerts (BEL) | 301 |
| 10 | Marcel Meisen (GER) | 297 |
Women
| Rank | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sophie de Boer (NED) | 484 |
| 2 | Sanne Cant (BEL) | 395 |
| 3 | Kateřina Nash (CZE) | 393 |
| 4 | Ellen Van Loy (BEL) | 353 |
| 5 | Eva Lechner (ITA) | 298 |
| 6 | Ellen Noble (USA) | 282 |
| 7 | Amanda Miller (USA) | 279 |
| 8 | Caroline Mani (FRA) | 270 |
| 9 | Katie Compton (USA) | 249 |
| 10 | Laura Verdonschot (BEL) | 246 |
Notes
- ^ a b Later reduced to 8 due to the cancellation of the Koksijde event.
- ^ In the 2016 races, van Aert rode for Crelan–Vastgoedservice, and for Vérandas Willems–Crelan in the 2017 races.
- ^ In the 2016 races, de Boer rode for Kalas–NNOF, and for Breepark in the 2017 races.
References
- ^ "Van Aert wint na schaatspartij in Fiuggi en heeft Wereldbeker binnen" [Van Aert wins after skating party in Fiuggi and has World Cup won]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Mediahuis. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
- ^ "Vos weer oppermachtig, eindzege De Boer" [Vos again supreme, overall victory for De Boer]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Telegraaf Media Groep. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.