Last year in Bieles, Sanne Cant (Belgium) won her first world championship after an enthralling last-lap duel with Marianne Vos (The Netherlands). This season, duels with Katie Compton (United States) have been a common occurrence, with Cant often getting the upper hand with her strong last-lap attacks. In a season with a strong women’s field, Cant and Compton distinguished themselves on a regular basis.

On Saturday in the Elite Women’s race in Valkenburg, Cant and Compton made sure that the sport’s biggest prize would be decided by two women who turned in consistent performances from the first days of September. Cant quickly got to the front during the muddy, chaotic first lap, and Compton rode a solid start to close the gap on her season-long rival.

During the third of four laps, the two traded leads as they battled back and forth on the muddy, technical course. After Compton earned an advantage thanks to a couple of dabs by Cant, it was apparent the race would go to the woman who made the fewest mistakes.

Compton was in control in the bell lap until the first pit, when she had to run to her far side position while Cant was able to quickly swap bikes and ride back to parity.

Then, on a rutted, switchback downhill, Cant made her move. Compton struggled with the section with two to go, and during the last lap, she again had to dismount and run much of the section.

Cant had a gap of about ten seconds and motivation to give it every last ounce of energy she had. With several running sections in the second half of the lap, she had the advantage and exploited it. Compton was unable to close to her rival, and Cant won her second-straight World Championship and the right to wear the rainbow stripes for another year.

“[Compton] also deserved to win,” said Cant. “She rode from September through the end of the season, and she’s really really strong. I’m happy I can keep this nice jersey.”

Compton finished second at Worlds for the fourth time in her storied career.

Sorting Things Out Quickly

With the Worlds course set atop the Cauberg and featuring several climbs and descents — and after mountain bike star Evie Richards won the U23 Women’s race — it was fair to assume the mountain bikers would do well in the Elite Women’s race. Early on, Eva Lechner (Italy) sought to fulfill that destiny by grabbing the holeshot and getting out to a fast start.

Lechner’s start was perhaps a little too fast; she slipped out on an off-camber and slid down to the snow fencing. Luxembourg’s Christine Majerus stepped up next and took the lead, looking to build on her career-best fifth at the Nommay World Cup. Behind Majerus, the World Champion Cant lurked while another of the race favorites Compton started her charge to the front.

Cant took the lead midway through the opening stanza and then broke free of Majerus. After the first lap she had a nine-second advantage on the Luxembourgian, while Compton was a close third. After a missed pedal at the start in Hoogerheide marred Compton’s race, she was in a good spot after one lap at Valkenburg.

Compton caught Majerus early in the second of four laps and then broke free to take up the chase of Cant. She slowly closed the gap and finally made the catch at the second pit. It was now Cant and Compton at the front, with Majerus and Lucinda Brand (The Netherlands) over 30 seconds back. Saturday’s selection would be a two-woman affair.

Cant vs. Compton For the Ages

With two laps to go, it was the two best riders of the 2017/18 season at the front. The World Championships had brought out the world’s best for a captivating cyclocross battle.

Shortly after pit one, Cant opened up a lead when a rut guided Compton into the snow fencing at the top of the switchback downhill. She recovered and eventually caught Cant, although it did require her to expend a prize proverbial match.

It was then Cant’s turn to make a mistake. She slipped out and had to dab on a corner and then paused at the top of the wall run-up, nearly losing her balance and toppling backward. With the two elite riders throwing everything at each other, it seemed as if the last-lap advantage would go to whoever made the fewest mistakes.

Compton pressed her advantage and took an eight-second lead into the last lap. About twelve and a half minutes on the thick, slow course stood between her and her first world championship.

Compton held the lead until the first pit. The pit had a small rise at the entrance that forced Compton to dismount. Her pit spot was at the end, so she had to run the entire length, while Cant had a spot close to the entrance. Cant’s ride versus Compton’s run eliminated the American’s lead.

Just as she did last year when she caught Marianne Vos (The Netherlands) after her dropped chain, Cant again sprung to life and tried to take control of the race.

The previous lap, Compton struggled on the switchback descent, and during the critical last lap, it again got the best of her. She had to dismount and run the entire section, allowing Cant to open up a sizable gap on the 14-time U.S. champion.

Compton appeared spent while Cant found another gear for the last lap as she had much of the season. Her lead slowly grew and it became apparent that only a crash or mechanical would keep her from a second straight rainbow jersey. There were no mistakes; she rode a flawless last half lap.

After achieving her dream in Bieles, Cant kept it going in Valkenburg in 2018. She was the best woman rider much of the season, and on Saturday, she delivered on the biggest day of the cyclocross year.

“It was really frightening until the end,” said Cant about her battle. “If you made a mistake, the gap was small. I was happy when I saw the finish line.” She commented on winning for the second straight year, “I don’t believe it now. It’s really nice. I think I am going to sleep in [the jersey] tonight.”

For Compton, it was another second at Worlds. The fourth of her career.

“I know how hard Sanne races,” she said. “I know how bad she wants to win. She’s really strong at the end of races. She was faster at the end. I just really struggled a bit on the running. I got tired. I did the best I could and second is what I could do today.”

Brand escaped from Majerus during the last lap to grab the third spot on the podium.

Kaitie Keough (United States) finished sixth to cap off a successful season.

“It’s my best ever result,” Keough said. “I couldn’t stand at the finish. I gave it my all. It was really tough course, heavy mud and lots of running. It was a day where you are racing the course not other women.”

Elle Anderson (United States) finished an impressive eighth. Caroline Mani (France) finished 10th, Katerina Nash (Czech Republic) 12th, Maghalie Rochette (Canada) 22nd, Courtenay McFadden (United States) 26th, Rebecca Fahringer (United States) 28th, Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Canada) 29th, Mical Dyck (Canada) 31st, Ellen Noble (United States) 32nd, Maria Larkin (Ireland) 39th and Stacey Riedel (Australia) 40th.

Fahringer tried to put the experience into words:

“The most painful day I’ve ever had on a bike. I couldn’t tell when I should be running and when I should be riding. I have a lot of late season fatigue and this was painful.”

For more from Valkenburg-Limburg, see our dedicated 2018 World Championships page.

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Photo Gallery: Elite Women’s 2018 World Championships</s>Evie Richards and Ben Tulett delivered double gold for Great Britain on the first day of the Cyclocross World Championships as they won the under-23 women’s and junior men’s races respectively.

The first race of the championships saw first-year junior Ben Tulett take victory in the junior men’s race to give Great Britain their second rainbow jersey in the event in as many years.

After Tom Pidcock topped the podium as part of a British 1-2-3 at 2017 World Championships (with Ben’s brother Dan in second place), there was a lot for Tulett to live up to in muddy conditions in the Netherlands.

Ranked sixth in the world going into the race, Tulett started conservatively as Loris Rouiller (Switzerland) and Tomas Kopecky (Czech Republic), the World Cup winner and runner-up and the top two riders in the world, established an early lead on the first lap.

However Tulett was soon back on terms with a number of other riders, before putting in his first big effort of the race to establish a solo lead on a running section on the second lap.

The 16-year-old’s advantage was quickly up to around 15 seconds where it remained for a while, before Kopecky counter-attacked to join his British rival by the start of the final lap.

Kopecky was the first to make his move, briefly gapping Tulett, before the Brit counter-attacked with a decisive attack with around half a lap to go.

Kopecky had no answer to Tulett’s move, and found himself on the defensive as Ryan Kump (Netherlands) closed in behind, while Tulett crossed the line alone to take the rainbow jersey with more than 20 seconds to spare.

After Tulett’s victory, the British team had to wait just two hours to pick up their next rainbow jersey as Evie Richards reclaimed the under-23 women’s race which see first won in 2016.

While Tulett had company for most of the race, Richards was already 21 seconds ahead with her highly impressive 16-year-old compatriot Harriet Harnden in second place.

The second lap saw more serene progress from Richards while Harnden was caught by Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Netherlands) and Nadia Heigl (Austria), before a slight moment of drama as a problem with her derailleur saw Richards stuck spinning away in a small gear.

However such was her lead that Richards never looked like being caught, eventually crossing the line in isolation with her lead back up to 38 seconds.

Behind Alvarado had dropped Heigl to take second, while Harnden held on for fourth to cap a superb race for Great Britain.

In the final race of the day Sanne Cant (Belgium) successfully defended her elite women’s rainbow jersey as she dropped Katie Compton (USA) on the final lap, with Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) in third.

Cant and Compton were towards the front of affairs from the very start of the race, with Cant surging away to lead by nine seconds over Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) and 12 seconds over Compton at the end of the first of four laps.

Compton worked her way pass Majerus and steadily rode up to the back wheel of Cant over the course of the second lap to set up the ding-dong head-to-head battle that would characterise the final two laps.

Mistakes and repeated accelerations from both women swung the momentum one way then another, with Compton enjoying a slim advantage over a tired-looking Cant at the start of the final lap.

However Cant still had reserves in the tank, taking a new bike in the pits and catching her American rival in the process, before Compton made a final costly mistake that allowed Cant to surge clear.

From there there was no stopping Cant, who had been strong on the running sections all day and extended her lead up a final steep ban with a quarter of a lap remaining, eventually crossing the line with an advantage of 12 seconds.

Behind a similar battle had been fought between Brand and Majerus, with Brand coming out the victory as she distanced her Luxembourgish rival on the final lap to take her first Cyclocross World Championship medal.

1. Ben Tulett (GBr), in 41-19

 2. Tomas Kopecky (Cze), at 22 secs

 3. Ryan Kamp (Ned), at 30 secs

 4. Tom Linder (Ger), at 34 secs

 5. Lane Maher (USA), at 35 secs

 6. Pim Ronhaar (Ned), at 36 secs

 7. Mees Hendrikx (Bel), at 48 secs

 8. Gerben Kuypers (Bel), at 55 secs

 9. Ryan Cortjens (Bel), at 59 secs

 10. Thibault Valognes (Fra), at 1-10

1. Evie Richards (GBr), in 37-52

 2. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Ned), at 38 secs

 3. Nadia Heigl (Aut), at 1-04

 4. Harriet Harnden (GBr), at 1-24

 5. Fleur Nagengast (Ned), at 1-40

 6. Sara Casasola (Ita), at 1-40

 7. Emma White (USA), at 1-59

 8. Marion Morbert Riberollen (Fra), at 2-03

 9. Adela Safarova (Cze), at 2-03

 10. Laura Verdonschot (Bel), at 2-41

1. Sanne Cant (Bel), in 49-34

 2. Katie Compton (USA), at 12 secs

 3. Lucinda Brand (Ned), at 26 secs

 4. Christine Majerus (Lux), at 55 secs

 5. Elisabeth Brandau (Ger), at 1-26

 6. Kaitlin Keough (USA), at 1-45

 7. Eva Lechner (Ita), at 1-49

 8. Elle Andersen (USA), at 1-57

 9. Marlene Petit (Fra), at 2-10

 10. Carline Mani (Fra), at 2-38</s>The rainbow bands will stay on the shoulders of Sanne Cant for another year. The Belgian came out on top in a duel for the ages with American Katie Compton at the UCI World Cyclocross Championships in Valkenburg, the Netherlands on Saturday. Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) took home Bronze for the host nation.

Compton recovered from a slow start and bad first lap to storm back to the front of the race and go wheel-to-wheel with Cant. The race was by no means perfect and it came down to who made the least amount of mistakes. Cant was clearly the stronger runner and used this to her advantage.

When Compton and Cant both pitted to get a clean bike in the first half of the final lap, the Belgian pounced. The pit was in horrible condition and forced both riders to run. Cant’s pit box was midway through the pit, while Compton’s box was at the end. Cant was able to close the slight gap Compton had and then attacked when both riders turned onto the pavement section after the pit.

Compton simply had no response and would lose ground to Cant throughout the rest of the circuit.

The Belgian had enough time to sit-up and soak-in the crowd on the finishing straight. Cant pumped her fist multiple times in celebration. Compton crossed the line fighting back tears. She earned her fifth world cyclocross championship medal in Valkenburg, but the gold one has eluded her. She has four Silver medals and one Bronze.

When the elite women took to the start line in Valkenburg on Saturday afternoon, the ruts were deep and the descents were even more treacherous. The course favored those that could slog through the mud, but riders also needed to have exceptional bike handling skills if they wanted to be competitive at the front of the race.

Eva Lechner (Italy) took the holeshot, as the riders dove down the opening harrowing descent to begin the lap. Compton had a slow start and was nowhere near the front. However, another American Elle Anderson was in the mix early on. She managed to squeeze to the front on the paved start and was riding in the top 10 to begin the race. Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) slotted into second behind Lechner.

Lechner would slide out on a tough off-camber section and due to the mud she even slid under the fencing lining the course. She recovered quickly enough to not lose too much ground. Cant calmly took over the lead, as Ellen van Loy (Belgium) and Majerus followed. Lechner joined a large chase group not too far back, as Compton was seen powering past riders.

At the end of the opening lap, the defending champion was alone in the lead with a nine-second advantage over Majerus. Compton had made her way into third, 24 seconds behind. The time gaps may have been significant for an opening lap on any other course, but not in Valkenburg. Due to the brutal nature of the parcours and the extreme conditions, a 10-second deficit could be wiped away quite quickly.

Compton made quick work of Majerus and finally was able to begin to go after Cant in earnest. She would make it to her before the lap was over, making it a duel for the rainbow bands with two laps to go. The second lap was Compton’s fastest of the race.

At this point, Dutchwoman Lucinda Brand was beginning to make her mark in the race. She moved into fourth behind Majerus and was closing the gap to the final podium place quickly. The win was out of reach by the end of lap two. Majerus finished the lap 30 seconds down on the two leaders and Brand was about five seconds behind her. Nash was in fifth nearly a minute down.

Cant slipped at the top of one of the brutally steep run-ups and Compton capitalized. A slight misstep by Cant turned into an eight-second deficit by the end of the lap. Meanwhile, Majerus and Brand were not giving each other an inch. They were locked in an intense battle for the final world championship medal.

An impressive slog through the mud put Cant within touching distance of Compton as the two riders neared the pits for the first time on the final lap. Both opted to take a bike and this is where the race was won. Cant took advantage of her running strength to close the gap and the attacked Compton out of the pits. The American simply had no response. She would continuously lose time to Cant the rest of the lap.

Brand came on strong in the final lap and gapped Majerus. The Luxembourg rider also looked to be suffering greatly.

Onto the terrible 30-step flyover run-up for the final time, Cant began shaking her head. The win was all, but secured. She was going to be world champion again.

Cant bathed in the cheers of the crowd down the finishing straight and let out many roars of joy. Compton crossed the line holding back tears.

Brand held her gap over Majerus for the second half of the final lap to take home the Bronze medal, 26 seconds behind Cant. Majerus finished fourth, Elisabeth Brandau (Germany) was fifth and American Kaitie Keough came home in sixth.

Elle Anderson came home in eighth to put three Americans in the top 10.</s>Few cyclists can understand the tangled emotions of a silver medal quite like Katie Compton.

If Saturday’s second-place finish in the UCI World Cyclocross Championships were her first podium appearance, it would have been a triumph. But, no, it was her fourth silver medal over a long career of ups and downs. Yet Compton will leave Valkenburg, the Netherlands with few regrets. This was the most difficult cyclocross world championships in recent memory with heavy mud on a hilly track, and she was up against Sanne Cant, a rival Compton deems the best female cyclocross world champion ever.

“She’s probably the strongest and most well-rounded world champion we’ve had,” Compton told VeloNews. “She wins in sand. She wins in mud. She wins on fast courses. She wins early season, late season.”

And Compton is an authority on the canon of world beaters. Eleven years ago, when Sanne Cant was 16, Katie Compton won her first silver medal at UCI World Cyclocross Championships at Hooglede-Gits, Belgium.

Since that day in 2007, where she tangled with two Frenchwomen and ended up second — barely — to Maryline Salvetat, Compton collected three other medals, facing stars such as Marianne Vos and Hanka Kupfernagel along the way.

However, Compton’s history with worlds is just as much about bad luck and health issues as it is near misses on the medal stand.

A year after her breakthrough worlds ride, Compton withdrew from the 2008 championships in Treviso, Italy with debilitating, cramp-like leg pains. The same mysterious ailment forced her to abandon 2010 worlds after one lap in Tabor, Czech Republic.

Her worlds misfortunes haven’t been limited to health struggles, which also included hypothyroidism and asthma. In 2014, she looked like an outright favorite, coming off her second consecutive World Cup series win, and a silver medal at Louisville Worlds. Early on, Compton tangled with Pavla Havlikova and never saw the front of the race.

Although Compton’s 2017-2018 season was one of her best, the final World Cup in Hoogerheide, less than a week before worlds, raised concerns.

Compton started slowly as she often does — a characteristic that has given her trouble at many big races. Then she flatted. But worse still, she had an asthma attack, plummeting from fifth at one point to 22nd.

“I was frustrated with myself for a couple days but then I let it go,” she said. “This [worlds ] course is night and day compared to last weekend.”

The muddy mess of the Valkenburg course played to her strengths. She had a decent start then set about moving from top-10 to top-five, to right on Cant’s wheel in second.

Although the Belgian was a faster runner in the slop, Compton was finding time here and there, growing her lead with skillful cornering and consistency. As the bell rang for the final lap, she had an eight-second lead.

“I was just trying to focus on the race and the last lap and the lines,” Compton said. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about being in the lead.”

Then, as is sometimes the case in ‘cross, things changed not with a catastrophe, but with a slight error. Compton had to dismount early and run through the entire pit on the last lap. Cant took her pit bike at the start of the pit, then caught and passed the American.

“I don’t think we picked the right pit box in hindsight,” Compton said. “That was good pit box when the course was dry.”

With fatigue already building, the extra effort of running farther put Compton into the red. Cant slipped away. “I would say my first three laps were much better than my last lap,” Compton said. “That’s what my body gave me today.”

So was she frustrated by another near-miss at worlds, on a day when the course seemed ideal for her diesel power and handling skills?

“I’m getting really good at getting second,” she said, flashing her wry sense of humor. “I’m okay with that. I did the best I could — I couldn’t have gone any harder.”

After the race, Cant told television broadcasters that it was the toughest race of her career. Compton agreed when asked later.

“It was hard I have to say. It’s probably one of the hardest world championships I’ve raced,” Compton said. “I’m glad I made Sanne work for it, I’m glad she was struggling as much as I was.”

Like any competitive athlete, Compton would rather be packing a rainbow jersey in her luggage when she flies home to Colorado in a week, following the final round of the DVV Trofee (which she’s on track to win). But the perspective that comes with a long career — back to her first national championship win in 2004 — quells any regrets.

“This one feels as good as my first silver medal in 2007. Mainly because I had a good race,” she said. “I’m just happy I won my first medal 11 years ago, and I’m still on the podium at world championships. I’m pretty happy with that consistency.”</s>Belgian Eli Iserbyt emphatically took back the rainbow bands on Sunday in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. He had triumphed in the under-23 men’s race at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Zolder in 2016, but a horrible race a year later in Biel, Luxembourg saw him finish outside of the top 15.

However, in Valkenburg Iserbyt was untouchable. He took the lead early on second lap and rode nearly the entire race alone. He overcame stumbles and crashes, though nearly every rider a couple of those, and gave Belgium its second world champion of the weekend after Sanne Cant successfully defended her title in the elite women’s race on Saturday.

Defending champion and Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis fought valiantly for the host nation. He was forced to change his shoe in the pits on the second lap after a crash and thus, Iserbyt slipped away. He fought off a late charge by France’s Yan Gras to secure the silver medal. Gras took home the Bronze medal.

Heavy pre-race favorite Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) did not have a good day. He had a horrible start and struggled to find his rhythm throughout the race. He finished in 16th. Though, he is a first-year under-23 rider, meaning he still has many years to grow and mature.

Temperatures hovered just about the freezing mark when the under-23 men took to the starting grid at the world cyclocross championships in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. The course was still incredibly muddy and after a full slate of races on Saturday, the ruts were even deeper.

Defending champion Nieuwenhuis took the holeshot, looking to make his mark on the race in the early going. He not only carried the pressure of defending champion, but also that of competing on home soil. Antoine Benoist of France slotted into second, as the riders plummeted down the first descent.

Pidcock was nowhere near the front of the race. He had a horrible start and it appeared he might have slipped out of his pedal. He was already riding outside the top 10 mere moments into the race.

American Eric Brunner got his world championships off on the right foot and was riding among the front-runners in the opening minutes. However, he would not keep pace with them for long. He would break his derailleur on the opening circuit and DNF the race.

Four riders showed they had come to compete in the early going, separating themselves from the rest. The leaders were Iserbyt, Nieuwenhuis, Benoist, and Sieben Wouters (Netherlands).

Although, the defending champion wasn’t comfortable with this and kept pushing hard until he was alone in the lead. Iserbyt set off in pursuit.

Nieuwenhuis put down a blistering opening lap of 9:37. It was the first sub-10 minute lap of the entire world championships. It would also be the only one, as course conditions worsened throughout the 50-minute race and the fatigue of the powering through the heavy muck also set in.

Iserbyt was nearly on Nieuwenhuis’ wheel at the end of the opening circuit and would make the junction after the Dutchman crashed on an off-camber curve. Crashing and bobbling was part of the race on Sunday and it merely came down to who did the least of it.

After his bad start, Pidcock was making headway and had joined the French duo Benoist and Gras in chasing. The trio was just off the final podium place, as Wouters and Belgian Thijs Aerts were battling for the bronze medal just ahead.

That’s as high as Pidcock would go, as the under-23 men’s World Cup overall winner would only lose places the rest of the race. He paid dearly for digging too deep early in the race, as he tried to quickly make-up the ground he lost due to his bad start.

Nieuwenhuis’ crash early on the second lap must have damaged his shoe, as the Dutchman entered the pit and changed his right shoe. This allowed Iserbyt to slip away. He would never make contact again with the Belgian leader.

The top three at the end of the second of five laps were Iserbyt, Nieuwenhuis, and Gras. This would end up being the final podium and there was little drama during the final three laps.

Gras made contact with Nieuwenhuis on the fourth lap, but the Frenchman was unable to make a real push to steal the silver medal.

As the riders completed the final lap in Valkenburg, snow began to fall. Iserbyt crossed the finish line surrounded by snowflakes as cyclocross champion of the world for the second time in three years. Nieuwenhuis captured second for the host country and Gras rounded out the podium.

Adam Toupalik (Czech Republic) entered the race a favorite for the rainbow bands and he made a charge toward the podium in the second half of the race after a slow start. He ultimately finished fourth with Aerts rounding out the top five.</s>Video commissaries will be used in races for the first time in 2018 as the UCI announced reforms in response to the case of Peter Sagan’s disqualification from the Tour de France last summer.

Bora-Hansgrohe, Sagan’s team, were due to take the UCI to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Sagan was disqualified from the Tour for what commissaires saw as a dangerous manoeuvre causing Mark Cavendish to crash. However the two parties settled their dispute in December, with the UCI agreeing to let commissaires use video footage in future.

A meeting of the UCI Management Committee at the Cyclocross World Championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands has now rubber-stamped these reforms, with a new “support/TV commissaire” being introduced at the Grand Tours (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España), Monuments (Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia), and the World Championships.

According to the UCI, the new commissaires will “follow the race live via the different TV images available, thus supporting the members of the Commissaires’ Panel who are out on the course”.

>>> Could you pass the UCI’s Pro Cycling Test? (video)

The UCI has also announced that changes to the protocol surrounding time gaps which were trialled at the Tour de France and Tour de Suisse in 2017 will be extended to all races in 2018.

Under the new protocol, the time gap between groups must be three seconds on the road in order for a split between the two groups to appear in the results and classifications. This move is intended to reduce the level of danger in bunch sprints, reducing the need for general classification contenders to battle it out with sprinters and their lead-out trains for space at the front of the bunch.

The new rule will be applied on a case-by-case basis depending on the profile of the stage, level of the teams, and the number of riders, meaning that it is unlikely to be used on uphill finishes.

Speaking about the decisions, UCI president David Lappartient said that he was pleased to see reforms that would improve the safety of riders and the consistency of decision-making.

“Rider safety and consistency between events on our international calendar are two of the UCI’s main priorities,” Lappartient said after the conclusion of the meeting on Friday.

“These two measures will reinforce both of those aims. The extra commissaire will provide vital support to the other commissaires in carrying out their roles, and the protocol was successfully trialled last year.”

Lappartient has also been vocal about his intent to increase the checks for motorised bikes, which the UCI refers to as “technological fraud”. A full plan of action in this area will be announced on March 21.</s>Two new rules should help avoid controversy and ease tension in the peloton going into the 2018 racing season.

The UCI made permanent a rule that relaxes the time gap for splits in bunch sprints, as well as added a “TV commissaire” who will help monitor live broadcasts for rule infractions during major WorldTour events.

Officials hope the addition of an extra set of eyes that will monitor live broadcasts and other media feeds will help assure a fairer application of UCI rules. A fleet of race commissaires already referee races from motorcycles and cars, but the additional “TV commissaire” will help spot infractions that might have otherwise been overlooked. The commissaire will monitor broadcasts of the grand tours and the five monuments on the WorldTour as well as the UCI World Road Championships.

That decision should help avoid contradictions in race jury decisions that can sometimes counter what the viewing public can see on live broadcasts. Last year, the UCI had to back-pedal on a decision to eject world champion Peter Sagan during the 2017 Tour de France, stating in December that the crash with Mark Cavendish in stage four was an “unintentional race incident.” Last July, social media users immediately dissected video in the aftermath of the crash and surmised that Sagan’s elbow never struck Cavendish in what the UCI had initially ruled as dangerous sprinting.

The peloton will also likely welcome making permanent the time-gap rules that were tested last season. The rule will widen the time-cut from one second to three seconds before marking gaps in the peloton for bunch sprints. That should ease tension in the bunch for mass gallops, and in theory, allow GC riders to avoid the very front of the peloton during flatter stages without having to fear of losing valuable seconds.

Traditional rules put a one-second gap, which often meant that GC riders were trying to finish in the top-20 in bunch sprints, something that the sprinters and stage-hunters complained made the already dangerous fast gallops even more harrowing. Time gaps are measured from the first rider of each group, so sometimes GC riders could lose dozens of valuable seconds simply because one rider eased up in the sprint or pulled off after doing work for their respective captain. Allowing three seconds in the bunch sprints should ease the tension inside the peloton.

The announcements came Friday following the first meeting of the powerful UCI Management Committee, since the election of new UCI President David Lappartient. The meeting occurred in Valkenburg, the Netherlands, site of the 2018 world cyclocross championships. The management committee is where many of the rule-making and policy decisions are taken within the international cycling federation.

The committee also announced that new procedures to improve detection of banned mechanical assistance are ready to be implemented, and will be revealed during a press conference in March.

The UCI also announced that Katerina Nash will become a member of the management committee until 2021. It also confirmed Amina Lanaya as the UCI Director General, replacing Martin Gibbs, who stepped down from that role following Lappartient’s landslide victory over Brian Cookson in September. Lanaya previously was head of legal services, as well as deputy director general at the UCI.

Click here to view the full press release.</s>Wearing bib number 13, Briton Evie Richards overcame a crash and a mechanical to win the under-23 women’s UCI World Cyclocross Championship in Valkenburg, the Netherlands on Saturday. Dutchwoman Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado took home Silver with Nadja Heigl (Austria) capturing Bronze.

Richards fought back from a crash in the opening minutes of the race to move comfortably into the lead by the end of lap one. The race seemed to be hers to lose, as she put on a demonstration of excellent bike handling skills. However, disaster struck at the end of the second lap with one lap to go.

The under-23 women only contested three laps due to the race distance being 40 minutes and lap times around the 12-minute mark.

Richards rear derailleur stopped working and she was stuck in her lightest gear in the rear cog. She spun an extremely high cadence for nearly half a lap before she reached the pit. However, due to the extremely muddy nature of the course, she lost very little time off of her lead.

Richards crossed the line with a huge smile on her face, but moments after dismounting her bike she fainted. Medical personnel were quick to tend to her and carried her into the podium preparation tent. After a few tense minutes, Richards was seen preparing for the podium ceremony.

Having won the under-23 women’s world cyclocross championship in 2016, Richards is now a two-time champion in the category. She will only turn 21 in March, meaning she still has another year of under-23 eligibility. Though, since she won an elite world cup this year at Namur, she may choose to compete in the elite race at the 2019 world cyclocross championships in Bogense, Denmark. It remains to be seen what she does.

Full report and results to come</s>Madison, Wisconsin and Iowa City will again host the world’s top cyclocross racers as part of the 2018-2019 cyclocross World Cup season.

The first UCI World Cup of the year, held at Trek’s campus near Madison, will kick off the autumn season on September 23. Jingle Cross in Iowa City will follow on the next weekend, September 29.

“It is an honor for the UCI to again choose Jingle Cross as one of the rounds for the Telenet UCI Cyclocross World Cup,” said promoter and race director John Meehan.

“Over the past 15 years, Jingle Cross has grown into one of the premier cyclocross events in the world and it’s terrific to have the best riders compete here in Iowa City. It is excellent for the cycling community and the continued growth of cyclocross in North America.”

This will be the third year of World Cup racing at Jingle Cross and the second at Madison. In 2016, the first World Cup of the season — and the first-ever cyclocross World Cup in North America — was held in Las Vegas at CrossVegas. Along with Interbike, the CrossVegas event will move to Reno, change its name to RenoCross, and will take place September 19, 2018.

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won both American World Cups in 2017. His teammate Sanne Cant won the Madison World Cup, and Katerina Nash (Luna) won Jingle Cross last September.</s>It is rare that a two-time defending champion begins the world championships as a big underdog, but as was the case for the Belgian Wout van Aert on Sunday. Van Aert overcame the odds in Valkenburg, the Netherlands to win the elite men’s UCI Cyclocross World Championship for a third consecutive year.

However, simply saying he won is an understatement. He finished over two minutes ahead of his nearest rival, fellow Belgian Michael Vanthourenhout. The former under-23 world cyclocross champion was ecstatic as he crossed the line to capture the silver medal.

Mathieu van der Poel entered the race the man to beat. He has over 25 victories this season and has been destroying the competition. Many of his victories seemed to come with ease and the rider getting second on most occasions was van Aert. Van der Poel was also on home soil, making him an even bigger favorite.

From the second lap onwards, van der Poel was unable to keep pace with van Aert and Belgian cruised to the victory nearly flawlessly. The one blemish was a crash on lap five when he clipped a post on the side of the course and flipped over the handlebars into the mud. He recovered quickly enough and kept on pushing forward.

Vanthourenhout attacked van der Poel on the fourth of seven laps, after catching the Dutchman at the end of the second lap. Van der Poel dug deep on the final lap and nearly clawed his way back to Vanthourenhout, but it was not enough.

Van der Poel’s bronze medal turned out to be key, as the Dutch just nearly avoided a Belgian sweep in the elite men’s race. It would have been embarrassing for the Netherlands to not only be locked out of the medals in the marque event of the weekend, but also swept by its rival nation. Toon Aerts finished in fourth for Belgium and Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) finished fifth.

Full report and results to come
Sanne Cant outduels Katie Compton in women's elite race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands, winning her second title.