{"id":187443,"date":"2021-11-15T14:38:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T14:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=187443"},"modified":"2021-11-15T14:38:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T14:38:28","slug":"things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/15\/things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor\/","title":{"rendered":"Things We Learned From the Cyclo-Cross World Cup In T\u00e1bor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cyclo-Cross World Cup brought their festival of cycling to the Czech Republic for the sixth round of the World Cup, and it left with plenty of great moments witnessed on the ground by We Love Cycling. Here we look at the most important moments from Sunday\u2019s racing in T\u00e1bor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Form of his life<\/b><\/h2>\n

With a plethora of racing from 9<\/span>:<\/span>30 AM to 4 PM, there were many memorable <\/span>moments<\/span> but the last race of the day brought a huge victory for <\/span>the<\/span> newly crowned European champion, Lars van der Haar. The Dutchman started comparatively slowly, taking time to get dialled in on a fast course. Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vantornhout were catalysts before, almost without warning, van der Haar took command, leading the final few laps with only Iserbyt for company. In the final lap, van der Haar sprinted away to have time to celebrate in front of a large, mainly Czech crowd to take home his first World Cup win since 2017.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CWQ7DJ9I8IO\/<\/p>\n

With this win coming off the European Championships a week before<\/span>, this is <\/span>the time for van der Haar. Normally, always the bridesmaid never the bride, he has had seemingly always been in the shadows of the likes of van der Poel, van Aert and, in more recent times, Iserbyt. But his patience to relentlessly work on his weaknesses seems to be paying off and he must be one of the favourites for the Worlds in January. If he can take that crown in what will be a tougher field than the one on display in T\u00e1bor, it will be an incredible year that would seal his place at the top table of cyclo-cross.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Champions\u2019 Day<\/b><\/h2>\n

The course on the outskirts of T\u00e1bor hosted the World Championships in 2001, 2010, 2015 and will again in 2024 \u2013 a course made for champions, and that was certainly the theme across every race. Two European champions \u2013 van der Haar and Zoe Backstedt \u2013 won whilst Lucinda Brand, the Elite Women\u2019s World champion was victorious in her category after a dramatic six-way tussle throughout the race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CWQt57fIo4M\/<\/p>\n

It shows a course perfectly tuned to bring out the best in the best. It has a flowing nature with a few tough climbs punctuated by some technical sections. The fact the race stayed away meant that it remained dry throughout with no real mud to speak of. It gave us great, attritional racing all day and the course designers should be applauded for an accessible and spectator-friendly course.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time for new venues?<\/b><\/h2>\n

There is no doubt that cyclo-cross\u2019 heartland is in Belgium and the Netherlands, and that tradition should never cease, neither will it. But, although you could see a marked difference in atmosphere from T\u00e1bor to the likes of Koksijde where the World Cup will visit next, there is something to be said about the sport\u2019s biggest series going to other countries like the Czech Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Illustration picture taken during the men elite race at the cyclocross cycling event in Tabor, Czech Republic, the sixth stage (out of 16) of the World Cup cyclocross competition, Sunday 14 November 2021. BELGA PHOTO DAVID STOCKMAN,Image: 643125870, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** World Rights Except Belgium and France ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From now on, the only other countries this series will visit outside of the main two <\/span>are<\/span> France and Italy \u2013 this needs to be addressed. There is certainly <\/span>an<\/span> appetite for the sport outside of the heartlands, the UK has hosted an event before, so why not return there or to other countries in Europe. Fans will go, so is it time to address the imbalance with the calendar?<\/span><\/p>\n

Brutal Backstedt<\/b><\/h2>\n

Back to the racing and one of the performances of the round was from Backstedt. The young Briton, <\/span>the<\/span> winner of her age category\u2019s European title a week ago, was once again <\/span>in<\/span> top form, winning by 20 seconds over Leonie Bentveld. And in fairness, Bentveld was the only one who looked like she could get near Backstedt. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The 17-year-old is now the World Cup leader, being that it was the first junior race of the season and has both junior world and European titles across multiple disciplines. Her progress at this level has been incredible and seems like it won\u2019t be a long time before she is ready for the step up. And with cycling running through her blood, she has the perfect set-up to remain focused and patient rather than chasing goals that are just over the horizon. But it feels like it won\u2019t remain <\/span>like<\/span> that for long.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Czeched out?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Not so long <\/span>ago, <\/span>Czech cyclo-cross had names like Zden\u011bk \u0160tybar and Kate\u0159ina Nash to cheer for but the current crop of talent seems a little way off fighting for major honours. The best result was from Kate\u0159ina Hlad\u00edkov\u00e1 who finished fourth in the Women\u2019s Junior race, 46 seconds behind Backstedt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Boros finished 18<\/span>th<\/span> in the Men\u2019s Elite race and Krist\u00fdna Zemanov\u00e1 was 20<\/span>th<\/span> in the Women\u2019s Elite race, showing there is a long way to go before any Czech rider is back on the top spot. This experience, though, being that Czech riders are given the opportunity to ride their home course compared to other World Cup events, is a great way to bring extra motivation and they will take away many lessons from Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CWTBa6nMITU\/<\/p>\n

There was one final moment of emotion at the end of the weekend<\/span>, though<\/span>. Pavla Havl\u00edkov\u00e1, now 38, was able to take to the podium after the ceremony to wave to her Czech fans in what <\/span>was<\/span> likely her final race at this level. She finished 24<\/span>th<\/span> and was mobbed by her younger compatriots across the line. Whilst others looked disappointed with their result, Havl\u00edkov\u00e1 was noticeably beaming \u2013 a fitting home send-off for the ever-present Czech rider.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did we miss anything? What was your favourite moment of the racing in T\u00e1bor? Let us know on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cyclo-Cross World Cup brought their festival of cycling to the Czech Republic for the sixth round of the World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":187449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[631,5864,2136,5869,5866,5865,5868,4968,4966,5867,982],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-187443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-mountain","tag-cyclo-cross","tag-cyclo-cross-world-cup","tag-czech-republic","tag-katerina-nash","tag-kristyna-zemanova","tag-lars-van-der-haar","tag-leonie-bentveld","tag-michael-boros","tag-tabor","tag-womens-elite-race","tag-zdenek-stybar","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nThings We Learned From the Cyclo-Cross World Cup In T\u00e1bor - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Cyclo-Cross World Cup brought their festival of cycling to the Czech Republic for the sixth round of the World Cup, and it left with plenty of great\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/15\/things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Things We Learned From the Cyclo-Cross World Cup In T\u00e1bor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cyclo-Cross World Cup brought their festival of cycling to the Czech Republic for the sixth round of the World Cup, and it left with plenty of great\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/15\/things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-15T14:38:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2021\/11\/qqq-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ondrejfilgas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joshua Donaldson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/15\/things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/15\/things-we-learned-from-the-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-tabor\/\",\"name\":\"Things We Learned From the Cyclo-Cross World Cup In T\u00e1bor - 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