Kicking off the victories was Wietse Bosmans with his back-to-back wins in China at the Qiansan Trophy’s events held in Yanqing and Qiongzhong 30 August and 2 September. Battling with asthma in the second race, he went so deep that just after the finish he collapsed onto the ground. But just like any top professional, he returned from the hospital just in time for the press conference.

Shortly after returning from China, Wietse was back on the plane to USA to again take back-to-back victories at the two Nittany Lion Cross events held in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania on 12-13 September.  Two weeks later Wietse nabbed an 8th place at the opening round of Czech Republic’s Toi Toi Cup held in Slany, good for a handful of UCI points, then once again landed on the podium with his 3rd place two weeks later at Coupe de France in Albi.

After losing most of his season last year to a battle with  Lyme disease, Wietse was on the charge to collect enough UCI points to put him back into the top 50 which would guarantee him entry to all the World Cup events. He is currently ranked 51st.  With his 7th place at last Thursday’s Kermiscross Ardooie, he surely earned the points to put him back in top 50. Unfortunately the UCI doesn’t update their rankings until after this Sunday’s World Cup to be held in Valkenburg. Even so, as Ardooie was his first race back on Belgian soil since last February, he surely proved that he is very competitive at the top level. And once his body is fully recovered from Lyme disease, we can expect he will take yet another step up towards the sport’s toppers. 

Another teammate who has been successfully in the hunt for those elusive UCI points to keep him in the top 50 ranking is Vincent Bastaens (currently ranked 34th ).  He began his season with a solid win at USA’s Full Moon Vista – Elliston Park Cyclocross Festival on 6 September.  Clearly his bruised ribs during a training just before did not hold him back.  Two weeks later, he crossed the line at the Cross Vegas World Cup in 16th. 

Just behind Vincent at Cross Vegas, finishing 17th,  was 19 year old teammate Adam Toupalik (Czech Republic Elite champion).  At only 19 years of age, Adam was the youngest competitor in the men’s elite category.   Teammates Michael Boros, Philipp Walsleben, and David van der Poel finished 24th, 30th, and 44th respectively.   

While three days before Vegas, over in Switzerland, the team showed itself at the opening round of the EKZ CrossTour held in Baden with Philipp scoring a 2nd place and David 6th.

Two weeks later, in Czech Republic, at the Toi Toi Cup’s opening race, it was Czech rider Michael’s turn to show his face at the front of his home crowd. Coming to the finish line with four other riders, he sprinted to a 4th place, while teammate David ended 9th.   We expect David would have had a better showing if it hadn’t been for his heavy fall in the first lap of the race.  
Meanwhile, back in the Dutch speaking part of the world…

At the first Belgian event of the year held in Neerpelt, David scored a 7th place.  He was joined by teammates Daan Hoeyberghs and Michael who finished 11th and 16th  respectively.
Skipping Neerpelt, teammate Adam instead headed to a National Belgian race in Stabroek where he took the win in a 2-person sprint.  

The following day in Erpe-Mere’s Steenbergcross, Philipp and Vincent finely represented the team with their 6th and 15th places, respectively.  

A week later, at Superprestige Gieten, the team once again landed on top thanks to Daan Hoeyberghs’ incredible win in the U-23 event. This breakthrough rider made his winning move with a surprise attack in the last round, earning him both the victory as well as the leader’s jersey.  As his last big victory was four years ago, needless to say he was beyond thrilled to take the win.  We already saw he was in top form when he took the win earlier in the season at the National Belgian race of Wiekevorst where Adam and Stijn rounded out the top 5.  And finishing behind him in Gieten was again Adam and Stijn in 10th and 20th respectively. 

In the elite event at Gieten, David blew the race wide open early on, only to eventually suffer a flat tire that took him out of the running. Good news was that his lingering back pain didn’t affect his race at all. Meanwhile it was Vincent’s first big race on Belgian soil and he didn’t disappoint with his 8th place finish against a strong field.  Philipp finished just behind in 12th.
A week after Gieten was the first round of the BPost Bank Trofee held in Ronse on 11 October where Daan held onto his top form to finish 3rd in the U-23’s.  In the elite event, Michael took home a 9th place.   Unfortunately David’s back pain returned, which relegated him farther back in the peloton to finish 26th.  

The most recent race held in Belgium was last Thursday, Kermiscross Ardooie where Vincent placed 8th, just behind Wietse.

While the team is clearly off to a great start, the team management’s plan is to take their good fortune all the way to Worlds with a clean sweep of gold.  At the team presentation, they announced that their ultimate goal of a clean sweep of gold at Worlds with Mathieu in the elite men’s category, Sanne Cant with the women, Jappe Jaspers from their satellite team Enertherm – BKCP in the junior’s race and their Czech talent Adam with the U23’s. 

Text: Christine Vardaros