Will this be Sven Vanthourenhout’s World Cup selection? “The list for Tábor is not very long”

Interview Within a week, on Monday January 22, Sven Vanthourenhout will announce his selection for the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. The Belgian national coach does not face a very difficult task this year, he says CyclingFlits know. And indeed: when we try to make a World Cup selection ourselves, we are not faced with heartbreaking choices.

As number two in the UCI country ranking after the Netherlands, Belgium can certainly count on seven starting tickets. However, national coach Vanthourenhout can divide two extra spots, because thanks to Michael Vanthourenhout’s European title and – if all goes well – Eli Iserbyt’s World Cup win, they are automatically qualified for the global title battle.

Nine names
In addition to these two, several others are emphatically knocking on the World Cup door. For convenience, we use the results of the most recent BC as a benchmark for the selection. You can easily justify this for the riders in places one to eight. Joran Wyseure (2nd), Niels Vandeputte (4th), Thibau Nys (6th) and Laurens Sweeck (8th) can rest easy, if you look at their level of form in recent weeks. You can’t call the experienced Jens Adams (5th) and Toon Vandebosch (7th) certitude, but after a fairly stable Christmas period, the national coach can hardly ignore them anymore.

What remains: the battle for the ninth and final spot. Number nine in the BK results, Quinten Hermans, also achieved a decent level, but finally dropped out. And the tenth, Lander Loockx? He was actually going to take a rest after the Belgian Championship to start the road campaign with TDT-Unibet fresh. But in the end he turned his cart around. Loockx was consistently left out of Vanthourenhout’s World Cup selections at the beginning of the season, but was still included three times from November onwards.

In the meantime, the national coach inquired about his plans. The Leuven resident wants to continue his season until the World Cup, because it is his dream to ride there. But then he will have to be chosen over the 22-year-old Witse Meeussen (DNF at the Belgian Championship). He was previously present at the European Championships and seemed to be in pole position for a long time after a strong first half of the season. But in recent weeks, not only Loockx, but also Thijs Aerts (11th) has been doing better. Furthermore, we see few candidates, because other strong boys such as Emiel Verstrynge, Jente Michels and Ward Huybs will compete in the U23 World Cup.

“Many absentees”
“I know well what everyone’s qualities are. I know those boys through and through,” explains national coach Sven Vanthourenhout. “I don’t want to mention names as a matter of certitude, because boys can always drop out. But when you make the bill, you quickly see: the list is not super long. There are quite a few absentees, right? For me, Wout van Aert, Toon Aerts, Tim Merlier, Quinten Hermans, Gianni Vermeersch, Gerben Kuypers and Daan Soete are all guys who you can always add to your list. Without them you will see the potential World Cup participants shrink rapidly. In my mind the selection is complete, but everyone has to stay healthy.”

What does the national coach expect from the boys who are in the balance? “Everyone must of course show some form of preparedness in the remaining crosses. But then again, I know well which riders can do something on a course like Tábor’s. I’m also not going to make a selection based on one or two good results. You should look at it in a few weeks, bearing in mind that it will have to happen in the Czech Republic.”

Although a possible defeat of Iserbyt in the World Cup – for example: Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis is 25 points behind the West Flemish with only two rounds to go and 40 points can be earned per round – could mean that there is one place less available. filling is. Things look good for the new Belgian champion, but he is struggling with symptoms of fatigue. “I certainly take into account the scenario of one place less. These are things that you always have to take into account and then it becomes difficult who loses weight.”

Four leaders?
For the Belgian championship, Eli Iserbyt, Michael Vanthourenhout, Thibau Nys and Laurens Sweeck were the four top favorites of the public, but also of the national coach. Should we also see them as the four leaders at the World Cup? “As for Iserbyt: of course. If we forget for a moment those ten days in which he was absent due to illness, then he is the man of the season. And the name you always enter first.”

“You also have to nuance the story of leaders a bit. Will you start as a top favorite, or with the names we just mentioned? You know you have to race against Mathieu van der Poel, who is in his best form ever. Then you have to be very careful about that. You will discuss scenarios, but it is especially important that they are ready to ride a super good World Cup. In recent weeks, many boys have had health issues here and there, and a busy week. They will have to reset everything in the coming period and the coming week is crucial for this.”

Podium position
Is a podium place the highest achievable for the Belgians? “We currently assume that Mathieu will become world champion,” said Vanthourenhout. “But I think you always have to be ready in case he doesn’t make it, no matter how small the chance is. I don’t want to mention doomsday scenarios such as snow and ice in which Mathieu would not win. I have way too much respect for the person and athlete Mathieu van der Poel for that. But we have to be ready.”