The Big Picture | Euro Correspondent Ethan Glading Stops By Slag Heap Cross
Ethan Glading made a stop at Slag Heap Cross for his first Big Picture of the new season
Ethias Cross Beringen is one of the more unique courses on the European cyclocross circuit. Set at the be-MINE post-industrial recreation area, the track features a climb up a hill created from industrial waste—thus Slag Heap Cross—before riders wind their way back down the hill.
Beringen is located in the Limburg Providence of Belgium in the northeast part of the country—relatively close to the famed burg of Zonhoven. Historically, the city had a large coal mine and an accompanying coal preparation facility. When the coal mine shut down, the city lost its main industry, but it still had a lot of industrial waste sitting around. Borrowing a page from the playbook of areas such as West Virginia and parts of Minnesota, Beringen turned its industrial heritage into a tourism opportunity.
This year marked the third edition of Ethias Cross Beringen. Last year, the event had a bit of an outsized stage, as many early-season Euro races were canceled, and thus all the hitters were showing up to every race.
This year’s running was a bit more muted with the non-series Ethias Cross races making up the September portion of the Belgian schedule. Still, the Lions and the Sauces were present in force for both the women and men, and that meant the race was anything but a minor affair.
In the Elite Women’s race, Yara Kastelijn Betsema’d Denise Betsema by hitting it straight from the gun and keeping a lead for the entire race. In our preview last week, we noted Kastelijn needed a good race on the climby course and boom! the Bulletin bump was legit (We did verify this with the arbiter of all things bump, Friend of the Bulletin Micheal Boedigheimer).
As the resident arbiter of BACKness, I think there is a strong case to be made that Shirin van Anrooij … is BACK after missing most of last season with an arm injury suffered in a crash. Van Anrooij, who had a strong road campaign, rode her way to a 2nd-place finish. And just as she did not do last week, Denise Betsema was unable (or perhaps unwilling) to unleash her patented shock and awe to ride away from the field. She settled for third on the afternoon.
For the Men, last week on the Media Pit we (or maybe just I) lamented Toon Aerts’ poor performance at Turnip Cross last weekend. My lamentations were music to Aerts’ ears, as the Belgian gave us the battle with Eli Iserbyt we all crave before a flat on the dusty, rocky course derailed his podium dreams in the sixth lap.
With Aerts dispatched, Iserbyt went on to take his second win of the young season.
Speaking of BACK—or dare we say, SHOULDER—one of the Bulletin’s favorite characters, Lars van der Haar, crashed early on and reportedly dislocated his shoulder. He then popped it back in and went on to ride all the way back to finish second.
As a brief aside, I have dislocated my shoulder … 3 times now … and each time, it was seriously the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. Like, unable to move death-like pain. The most recent time I was cross-country skiing, and had there not been ski patrol at the venue, I probably would have died out in the cold because I literally could not move.
Anyway, I am jealous of Van der Haar that he had a less-bad dislocation. And seriously, respect slash WHAT ARE YOU THINKING FINISHING A RACE AFTER DISLOCATING YOUR SHOULDER?
Rounding out the podium was Our Maan Daan Soete. Soete rode well at Beringen last year—Toon Aerts credited him with showing him the good lines on the descent—and this year he backed that ride up with a podium finish.
Ethan Glading Photo Gallery - Ethias Cross Beringen
While we were busy with GO Cross, Bulletin Euro Correspondent Ethan Glading decided to stop by Slag Heap Cross between road races to get his 2021/22 cyclocross schedule underway.
You can see all of Ethan’s photos from the race below. For more Euro content, definitely consider giving him a follow on Instagram @thepenultimatestage.