The Big Picture | World Cup Antwerpen

Late fall start to the World Cup in early fall conditions

The World Cup season is underway. Belatedly, or right on time, depending on your view of the World Cup calendar in recent years.

The riders in Antwerp were greeted with warm and windy conditions along the Scheldt. Temperatures were in the low to mid-60s Fahrenheit. Though it rained nearly all night Saturday, the course drained well, and there was no significant mud.

This course is always tricky to navigate because the two photogenic parts are separated by a narrow strip with limited course crossings. For the past two years, both Wout and Mathieu have raced here, swelling the crowd and making the course crossings nearly impossible as the race progressed. This year was a good bit mellower, but somehow, I still found myself having to exit the venue and run around the exterior to make the women’s finish.

The women's field before the stringing-out process has begun. © Ethan Glading

Italian champ Sara Casasola nearly cracked the podium, just 16 seconds off Schreiber

Lucinda Brand fought her way through the field and finished only 30 seconds behind Fem

Imogen Wolff had a rough day. This mechanical plus a stumble in the sand contributed to her tumbling down the standings into 38^th

Marie Schreiber started fast and held on to grab the last spot on the podium

Fem van Empel rides the sand well off the front of the race

Zoe Backstedt often looked uncomfortable in the sand, but she still managed a 7^th-place finish

Blanka Vas begins the laaste ronde

Fem van Empel wins her 3^rd Antwerp World Cup

Sanne Cant looking like she left it all on the veld

Fem surveying the scene from the podium

Michael Vanthourenhout started in traffic but made his way through the chaos to finish 3rd.

Felipe Orts continued his string of solid results, landing in 9^th place

European champ Thibau Nys seemed to be fighting for the podium early but ended up in 12^th

Laurens Sweeck still leading the race but with Iserbyt just behind and looking to attack

Urban Cross Antwerpen

Top-placed Lion Lars van der Haar finished 6^th

Joran Wyseure had a great ride, finishing just off the podium

The Sandman doing sand things

Eli wins the first World Cup of the season

A bit of sportsmanship after the finish