In Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) and Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic), the World Cup winner and owner of the rainbow jersey both herald from outside of Belgium. Not since Stybar did the double in 2010 has Belgium missed out on both, and before then you have to go back to 1997 for the last time two separate non-Belgians have scooped the two prestigious prizes. Stefan Wyman, husband of Helen, correctly predicted the Belgian dominance of the sport was fading when we spoke to him back in October.
But in Hoogerheide, the Belgians proved they are not done yet. While Sven Nys, Kevin Pauwels, and Niels Albert missed out on the top honours this season, a new generation of Belgian stars is developing fast. Wout van Aert and Michael Vanthourenhout beat the much-fancied Mathieu van der Poel into third in the under-23 race, while Belgium achieved a monopoly of the podium places in the junior race with Thijs Aerts leading home Yannick Peeters and Jelle Schuermans. Other countries may be developing fast, but Belgium remains the heartland of ‘cross for good reason.
