Zolder CX: Why Cyclocross is Great

The snowy conditions were similar to Kalmthout, though the race shook out in an entirely different way. These were a couple of the best CX races I've seen so far this season, with the utmost in technical challenge, and with heart pumping excitement right down to the final moments. These races are what make CX such an amazing sport.

It was touted as a race tailor-made for the likes of Sven Nys, and noted as a poor venue for Niels Albert. Albert wasn't listening and Nys had a bad day, but most of all the wildcard of Lars Boom turned it into a major duel of strength, stamina, savvy, and technical skill.

Boom isn't even doing that many CX races this year and could be excused for not having that little extra that's needed to race at the very top of the standings as he once did. Add to that, early in the race, the chain on his bike was happier off the sprockets than on. Three times it dropped off and gave Albert all he needed to pull away and solo for the rest of the race toward victory. Worse, for some reason, Boom didn't change bikes when the chain problem initially arose and he stumbled around the course as if that bike was a lucky charm that he was unwilling to part with. This was nearly his undoing, but fortunately he finally dipped into the pits and swapped it out for a chain happy mount.

Somehow, Boom was able to reconnect with Albert each time he got dropped. But pulling away was another thing. The two slipped and slid around the course together until the penultimate lap, when Boom's power was just too much for Albert. Boom once again built a sizable lead as Albert began to fatigue and make one small mistake after another.

Meanwhile, the race for the last step on the podium was shaking out in strange and unusual ways. For a while it looked like a race of pairs. Boom-Albert, Nys-Simunek, and Wellens-De Knegt, as Pauwels drifted from the front of the pack into the ether and Klaas Vantornout continued developing his skills at unintentional dismounting and stumbling in the first turn of the race removing him from contention right away.

De Knegt connected with Nys-Simunek as Wellens dangled not far behind in what appeared to be his usual position somewhere fifth or beyond. Then Simunek slid and went down in a horrible crash that appeared to sideline him with major bodily damage (collarbone, perhaps?) as De Knegt slipped past Nys who was fending off the Czech's tumbling bike. It was hard to understand what followed as the cameras went back to the front of the race, then returned to this battle to reveal a De Knegt-Wellens rivalry with Nys in the atypical position of lone dangler. Either Simunek's bike did some physical damage to Nys or the crash he'd just observed took the fighting spirit out of him.

Wellens' rare position as a podium contender in recent times gave him the impetus to dig deep and pull away from De Knegt. He turned the final corner with a comfortable buffer for third place.

It looked like the race was decided with Boom's lead going into the teens and climbing, but in the last lap Albert found the rail on an uneven course that seemed to favor the skills of a surfer on choppy seas as Boom began to either ease up or begin to poop out. The difference narrowed to three seconds with half a lap to go and all of a sudden the race was back on and it looked like it would be decided in a sprint.

Boom still had one last reserve of acceleration and sensing the danger, stretched the three seconds back into the teens by the time he hit the finishing straight. It was the only time during the whole race when he was able to relax and savor his efforts.

Think about it, without Boom, Albert would have taken off solo and the race wouldn't have had nearly the excitement or story that this race had. What this shows more than anything is Lars Boom's power, skills and talent. It certainly indicates his ability as a major contender in the Spring Classics, either this year or in years to come.