Nys and Norbert Riberolle strike gold again
In Beringen, Belgium, defending champion Nys (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions) built up an early lead, but crashed on the fourth of seven laps and eventually allowed Emiel Verstringe (Crelan-Corendon) to catch him on lap 6. The two rode together to the finish line, with Nys having a bigger kick to take his second consecutive national title, 1 second ahead of Verstrynge, with Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) completing the podium, at 53 seconds.
“It was about riding to the finish as safely as possible,” Nys told Sporza afterwards. “Emiel came up to my wheel, but it was so treacherous, and I didn’t want to take any risks. As a result, I lost seconds on every corner. That was the safest way to win the title, because I knew I had enough power for one last burst of energy… I’m really attached to this jersey and hope to wear it for a long time.”
Chances are good that he will.
In Saturday’s Belgian Elite Women’s race, French-born Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Corendon) took advantage of a crash on a muddy curve by then-leader Fleurs Moors (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions) on lap 3 of five, and rode the rest of the way on her own, to win her second title in a row. Moors finished second, 17 seconds adrift, with Kiona Crabbé in third, at 1:25. As it was run a day earlier than the Elite Men’s race, the riders faced hazardous conditions, in freezing temperatures and snow and ice covering the course.
Del Grosso and Alvarado snatch Dutch titles
In the Dutch town of Huijbergen, del Grosso – Mathieu van der Poel’s teammate and disciple at Alpecin–Premier Tech – also had to recover after a crash and then outride two Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions riders, Pim Ronhaar and four-time national champ Lars van der Haar, to claim his second consecutive title, with van der Poel sitting out the race to prepare for the world championships in three weeks.
Del Grosso rode aggressively right from the start but could not open a gap until lap 2. When he dropped his chain in a crash, it allowed Ronhaar to come close to his wheel. He finally dropped him on the penultimate lap, but then had to withstand a final charge by van der Haar to defend his title, winning by a scant 3 seconds, with Ronhaar coming third, beaten by 46 seconds.
In the Elite Women’s race, Alvarado (Fenix–Premier Tech) again proved to be the best in the cold, as she was one week earlier when she won the World Cup race at Zonhoven, after a thrilling race in the snow. There was far less snow in Huijbergen, but it was cold and, again, her main rivals were teammate and defending champion Pieterse and three-time Dutch champion Brand (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions).
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The three co-favourites quickly rode away from their rivals, and then the teammates worked together to distance Brand and keep the title in the “family”. But Pieterse crashed on lap 3, and Alvarado did not stick around, gradually increasing her lead without ever feeling too comfortable. Pieterse worked hard but lost by 16 seconds, with a disappointed Brand coming third at 1:02.
It was a sweet victory for Alvarado, who had been beaten into second by Pieterse in 2023 and last year, after she had won her first title in 2020.
Gery upsets Fouquenet in France
Arguably the biggest upset of the day came in the French Elite Women’s race, when Célia Gery (AS Bike Racing–France Literie) beat the in-form Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) by 33 seconds, with 19-year-old prodigy Amandine Muller striking bronze, at 39 seconds, in her first big title race in the Elite category.
Gery was no veteran either, as she turned 20 on January 4, but she came into the race with the confidence of a world champion because she had won the U23 road race world championship with FDJ-Suez in September.
As usual, defending champion Fouquenet started strong but was betrayed by her technical shortcomings, faltering badly on a very curvy section on lap 2 and allowing Gery to take the lead. Gery then rode away from her rival on the next lap and was not threatened again. Fouquenet had come into the race as the solid favourite, after scoring eight podiums in the season, including two Superprestige wins.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Gery said after the race, as reported by L’Equipe. “I had a lot of doubts before the race. It’s really great to win here. Amandine [Fouquenet] and I broke away right from the start of the race. I felt that she was very strong in the physical sections. That’s what made me doubt myself a little for a while. But I saw that in the technical sections, I could widen the gap a bit to win today.”
In Brugherio, Italy, the favourites, Sara Casasola (Creland-Carendon) and Filippo Fontana, won their respective races.
