I suppose the big story of the day was You-Know-Who showing up for his first ‘cross of the year and dominating in the men’s race. And his teammate taking her second World Cup of the season on another wet, muddy and challenging course. Or possibly the controversy around moving the races from their traditional time slots to avoid a foreign TV conflict. The story for me is always the beautiful course itself and its magnificent earthen walls. Truly one of the greatest settings in cyclocross.
A frequent conversation at Hulst in recent years among colleagues has gone along the lines of: “Can you imagine if it really rained on this course?” The day before the race my weather app was showing a steady hard rain all day. I was picturing some serious carnage, particularly on the huge run-up next to the windmill. And of course the massive drop-in that happens shortly after. As it turned out the rain lasted through 90% of the racing but it was mostly of the light/drizzling variety. Only once or twice did I find myself wishing I had crampons and most of the riders seemed equally unbothered. So we wait at least another year to get the answer.
MNR is former compatriot of Clauzel.