The Big Picture | World Cup Dendermonde

A second second for Honsinger and the return of the Big...3?

For the second time in the two-year history of the race, the World Cup in Dendermonde was held without fans. When I finally get to shoot this race with fans present I think it is going to be a real shock. Most of the course is on a flat field that seems to flood at the mere mention of rain. The few spectators that have been out in 2020 and 2021 naturally crowd onto the “hills” where the features are concentrated. Getting from feature to feature is therefore very easy but with a full crowd it would mean I can no longer pick my lines through the watery mud. Anyway, I have another year until I have to worry about that.

A number of changes were made to the course which seemed to improve things quite a bit for the riders. The fly-over, the sand pit descent, the whoop-de-whoops that weren’t quite whoop-de-whoops. This course caught a lot of flak last year but I think they really made a huge and very expensive effort to correct it. I definitely felt like there were lots more places and interesting things to shoot compared with last year when I was mainly just waiting for people sink into the mud in new and interesting ways.

Erica Zaveta working on her free throws before the start. © Ethan Glading

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Puck Pieterse rides a lot of things that others run. © Ethan Glading

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Bridget Tooley makes her way through the whoops. The difference between a dry set of whoops and a soggy one is pretty dramatic. © Ethan Glading

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The transition out of this descent caused chaos after the earlier races turned it into a front-wheel trap. © Ethan Glading

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Emily Shields-Werner upright on the slippery off-camber descent. © Ethan Glading

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More chaos on this downhill section. © Ethan Glading

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Maddie Munro, racing with USA Cycling, drops in to the sand. © Ethan Glading

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Not Marianne Vos’s day. © Ethan Glading

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Caitlin Bernstein on the (Belgian?) stairs. © Ethan Glading

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Lucinda Brand turned in another great performance to take the W in Dendermonde. © Ethan Glading

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Clara Honsinger picked her way through the field and was chasing only Brand by the end. © Ethan Glading

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Alvarado, who was on the podium here in 2020, is encouraged by her mom. © Ethan Glading

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Brand held off Honsinger to win by just 4 seconds. © Ethan Glading

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Third time’s the charm? Honsinger will be looking to take a step to her left at this race in 2022. © Ethan Glading

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Daan Sooete on the drop-in after the stairs after the 180 after the drop-in. © Ethan Glading

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It’s good to have a house next to a World Cup course. © Ethan Glading

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Tom Pidcock navigates the drop 180 to stairs. © Ethan Glading

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Two photos in a row of Tom Pidcock © Ethan Glading

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Kerry Werner dismounts in the slop. © Ethan Glading

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Always good to see the Costa Rica jersey of Felipe Nystrom but less fun when there’s no crowd. © Ethan Glading

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Wout and Mathieu and various accredited staff…? on the “hill” © Ethan Glading

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Canadian champ Michael Van Den Ham. © Ethan Glading

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MvdP © Ethan Glading

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Toon Aerts splashed his way to 3rd place. © Ethan Glading

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Lance Haidet flying the L39ion colors in Dendermonde. © Ethan Glading

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Wout off the front running the whoops in the closing laps. © Ethan Glading

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13th-placed finisher Toon Vandenbosch © Ethan Glading

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Wout wins. © Ethan Glading