Weekend Preview: Boom, Goes the Dynamite
Superprestige Boom on Sunday, Who's Hot, Gimmick Watch, and Links! Links! Links!
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Superprestige Boom 411
Day: Sunday
Women: 7:45 am EST
Men: 9:00 am EST
Video: GCN Race Pass (US/Canada)
Recent Results
Women
2019: Alice Maria Arzuffi Eva Lechner Sanne Cant
2018: Kim Van de Steene
2017: Maud Kaptheijns
2016: Jolien Verschueren
2015: Ellen Van Loy
Men
2019: Toon Aerts Quinten Hermans Tom Pidcock
2018: Mathieu van der Poel
2017: Wout van Aert
2016: Wout van Aert
2015: Lars van der Haar
Start Lists
Click here for Men’s and Women’s start lists
The Course
Superprestige Boom is typically an early October race—last year it was the weekend after Gieten— that takes place at De Schorre, a large regional park in Boom. The park is known for its trolls—no, not the internet ones you should not feed—large wooden trolls sculpted by Dane Thomas Dambo.
In past years, the course has been pretty grassy, with the well-manicured lawn of De Schorre getting torn up by muddy conditions last year. The course usually features some climbs and long descents in what appears to be an amphitheater, and in past years, there has been a sand pit right before the finish.
The course map is below, and if you can make sense of it, you are a better person than me. Given pretty much every Superprestige race has had a sand pit this year, it would be surprising to not see the pit back again in 2020.
Who’s Hot
Lucinda Brand
Readers of the Xennial-ish persuasion who were into hoops growing up no doubt remember one of the all-time great video games, NBA Jam. In that game, if a player scored three baskets in a row, they would torch the net, and the announcer would proclaim, “They’re on fire!”
Well folks, Lucinda Brand is on fire, or in the words of the late, great Stuart Scott, She’s en fuego. Brand is the first woman and third rider this season to torch the cyclocross nets. Toon Aerts won Kruibeke, Gieten, and Beringen, and Eli Iserbyt won Ruddervoorde, Koppenberg, and Euros. In a sign of how unpredictable and competitive elite Euro women’s ‘cross has been this year, Brand is the first female rider to even reach the “Heating Up” stage (two wins in a row) of major series Euro ‘cross.
Last week, I wrote about what I thought was a masterpiece by Brand at Merksplas, and on Sunday, she turned in a dominant win on a Tabor course that seemed designed specifically for her. With BIG CYCLING MEDIA following the lead of the humble Bulletin and taking notice of Brand, getting her fourth-straight win at Boom will be that much tougher.
What’s really unfortunate, is the infamous “Boom, goes the dynamite” call had not been birthed at the time of NBA Jam, because perhaps that’s what a fourth-straight win would be worthy of.
Mikey V
With the exception of Toon’s trifecta earlier in the season, the 2020-21 Men’s ‘cross season has belonged to the Sauces thus far this season. Left out of the Sauce party until the last two weekends, however, was the consummate teammate, Michael Vanthourenhout. Despite being in the mix throughout his Elite career and even finishing second at 2018 Valkenburg Worlds, Vanthourenhout had never been on a podium in a major series race until literally last weekend.
That changed when he took the win at Superprestige Merksplas. Now one would have forgiven the ironically dubbed Scary Sauce (he seems like such a nice guy!) if he had rested on his laurels with a career win, but he came out ketchup bottles a-blazing at Urban Cross Kortrijk and but for a flat, might have won his second straight.
The flat proved no worries, however, as Vanthourenhout got a lead midway through World Cup Tabor and then kinda sorta crushed his teammate Eli Iserbyt’s soul in Sport Sauce’s bid to be the Grinch Who Stole Woutmas. Vanthourenhout began his attack at the famed uphill barriers and kept Iserbyt on the ropes to the finish to take his second win in three races and rise to the top of the CX Heat Check Power Rankings. You can read more about Mikey V, late bloomer, over at Sporza.
Heat Check Rider of the Week
Not only has the Elite Women’s field been an anyone-can-win affair each race, but it has also seen any number of Middlers making their mark at the front of races. Whether it be Aniek van Alphen’s season-opening win, Manon Bakker’s “statement race” at Ruddervoorde, or Perrine Clauzel’s JR Smith-esque Heat Check at Leuven, the women’s racing has been fierce from all corners.
Perhaps the biggest Heat Check ride of the season occurred on Sunday at Tabor when young Hungarian Kata Blanka Vas made the chase behind Brand and Alvarado and ended up coming up just short of the podium in a sprint. The 19-year-old finished 2nd in the U23 race at Euros, so the performance is no fluke and as she continues to gain experience, it probably will not be surprising if her finishes are less Heat Checks and more “Kata Blanka Vas racing her bike.”
Gimmick Watch
Listeners of the Media Pit podcast know we have had some recurring bits that … recur … on the show the last two years. Whether it be Sanne Cant’s relative level of performance, the general location of Lars van der Haar with respect to backness, or Laurens Sweeck’s eternal quest to be a Topper, we like to have fun with our bits. Each week in our preview, we’ll be checking in on our gimmicks.
Is LaUrEnS sWeEcK eLiTe?
Sanne Watch
I’m not going to lie, until I read Thursday’s CX Heat Check Power rankings, I was casually nodding along when Bill talked about Pony Camps because I clearly missed the joke. I really appreciate him explaining exactly what a ponykamp is and any other number of Media Pit inside jokes.
Did you know Ponykamp is a “garage pop / fairytale punk band” from Ghent, Belgium. You’re welcome.
Is Lars van der Haar Back?
As with the Lucinda Brand train, CXHairs was all over Lars van der Haar being back before it became cool to notice the return of the Dutch Lion.
With Lars getting a shout from Marty Mac during the World Cup Tabor broadcast, and the Godfather of U.S. Cyclocross Timmy Johnson acknowledging Lars’ backness, yes, Lars is back.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It (If You Understand Dutch)
It can be hard for the working folk to keep up on the latest and greatest (translated) news from Belgium and the Netherlands. Fortunately, the CXHairs Bulletin has you covered like Eli on a teammate’s move.
Coronavirus claims the Junior and U23 World Cups at Namur and Dendermonde. The UCI said it is hoping to still hold Junior and U23 Worlds, but that appears to mean those races will be canceled at all of the four remaining World Cups.
Superprestige Maldegem, scheduled for February 3 after Worlds, has been canceled. With the race taking place in the city proper, the organizers could not make the race happen with the city’s current rules about events. They are hoping to reschedule.
Shirin van Anrooij returned to Belgium on Tuesday after spending two nights in the hospital in Tabor after having her arm sliced in the holeshot melee at World Cup Tabor. Van Anrooij had to have surgery following a laceration of her arm. Her return to racing is uncertain.
Eva Lechner was also injured in the Tabor holeshot crash. She is out with a knee injury.
Mathieu van der Poel has new shoes. No really, that’s the story.
The Media Pit Pod
Most readers of the Bulletin likely are in the know, but each week during the cyclocross season, the Cyclocross Radio Media Pit featuring Micheal Boedigheimer, Bill, and your humble hobby-blogger break down the weekend’s races, tell dad jokes, and drop sick puns.
This week, we covered Woutmas, Eli’s turn as the Grinch Who Stole Woutmas, and the en fuego Lucinda Brand.
This is really well written. Great stuff!