February 3/25 14:06 pm - Dutch Dominate Cross Worlds; Bronze Medal for Canada

Posted by Editoress on 02/3/25
 

The Netherlands took half of the individual titles last weekend at the 2025 Cyclo-cross World Championships in Liévin, France, including both the women's and men's Elite titles. Canada had a strong showing, with a bronze medal for Rafaelle Carrier in the Junior women and fifth place for Isabella Holmgren in Under-23 women. A week earlier, Carrier became the first Canadian rider to win a World Cup overall title in cyclo-cross. In other top Canadian results, Emilien Belzile was 11th in Junior men, Ian Ackert was 16th in Under-23 men, Sidney McGill was also 16th in Elite women and Tyler Clark was 38th in Elite men. Canada finished seventh in the Team Relay.

"I've been around the sport for a while a now," said Michael Van den Ham, National Team Coach. "A decade ago, I could not have imagined the success we had at this year's World Championships. A podium, a top-5 and multiple top-20s across multiple categories and from riders in different parts of the country is nothing but a success and something I'm excited to see build on moving forward."

The Netherlands took gold medals in the both the Elite women (Fem van Empel) and Elite men (Mathieu van der Poel), as well as in Under-23 men (Tibor del Grosso). Mathieu van der Poel's win was his seventh - tying him for the record with Belgian legend Erik de Vlaeminck. In the other three individual events, France's Lise Revol won the Junior women, Mattia Agostinacchio (Italy) won Junior men, and Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain) took Under-23 women. Great Britain also won the Team Relay. The cyclo-cross powerhouse nation of Belgium was limited to two silver and two bronze medals in total - four out of 21 medals awarded.

Cyclo-cross World Championships: Team Relay results

Rafaelle Carrier Takes Bronze on Day 1 of Cross Worlds

Cyclo-cross World Championships: Day 2 results