Valkenburg Gallery: De Jong and van der Poel shine at home

Oct 24, 2016

The women's field at Valkenburg hit the course under cool but mostly clear conditions. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Thalita de Jong and Sophie de Boer established themselves as the riders to beat over the course of the race. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

De Jong began pulling away in the fourth lap. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Once the Dutch world champ was clear, no one could bring her back. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

De Jong took the win with plenty of time to celebrate. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Amanda Miller took some time to enjoy the closing meters with the fans. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

American Kaitlin Antonneau came home a little over a minute and a half behind de Jong for a respectable eighth place. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

De Jong finished atop the podium with de Boer in second and Sanne Cant in third. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

The Valkenburg course was not particularly muddy, but steep grassy climbs provided plenty of tough stretches to make things interesting. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Defending champion Lars van der Haar fell only a few minutes after the start of the men's race. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Wout Van Aert spent some time solo off the front early in the race. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Mathieu van der Poel bridged to Van Aert to make it a two-rider lead group at the midway point of the race. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Michael Vanthourenhout and Tom Meeusen caught up to the two leaders briefly before van der Poel soloed away in lap seven. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

A crash by Van Aert with around two laps to go brought Meeusen down as well and also held up Vanthourenhout, giving van der Poel a clear path to victory. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Van der Poel freewheeled through a shower of confetti to take his first World Cup win of the season. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Van der Poel, Van Aert, and Vanthourenhout comprised the final podium in the men's race. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

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Tags: Cyclocross Gallery World Cup-Valkenburg

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