A piece of history was written at the Belgian Championships in Heusden-Zolder. The 15-time Belgian champion Sanne Cant had already announced in advance that she would end her impressive career after this season. Out of respect for the national jersey, she therefore did not compete in this year's championships to make way for her successor.

This came in the form of Sanne's Crelan-Corendon team-mate Marion Norbert Riberolle, who coped best with the wintry, slushy weather and course conditions to take the gold medal after two silver and one bronze in previous years. This means that the French-born rider will be competing in the Belgian national colours of black, yellow and red on her STEVENS Super Prestige next season.

In the U23 men's category, the 2021 U19 European champion Aaron Dockx (Crelan-Coredon) shone, securing the gold medal by a narrow margin.

Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon), the overall UCI World Cup winner from 2023, finished second in the elite men's race, while Laurens' team-mate Xaydee van Sinaey also took national silver in the U23 women's race. Two other Crelan-Corendon riders, Emiel Verstrynge and Joran Wyseure, made it into the top 10, while STEVENS rider Jens Adams (Athletes for hope) took a great 8th place in the highly competitive men's elite field.

Cameron Mason (Seven Racing) took his third title in a row at the British Championships in Gravesend. The 25-year-old won the 60-minute race with a lead of more than three minutes, once again proving his exceptional position in the British cyclocross scene.

At the Dutch championships in Oisterwijk, 20-year-old Guus van den Eijnden (Seven Racing) rode to a great 2nd place in the U23 classification in the elite men's field. His Seven Racing team-mate Aniek van Alphen finished 5th in the women's elite race, while Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) came 7th.

Crelan Corendon rider Sara Carasola fell short of her own expectations. The 2024 Italian champion had to settle for 5th place at the Italian championships in Fae' di Oderzo.

Great successes for the STEVENS Racing Team at the German Championships in Chemnitz. Freezing cold winter weather with snow and wind made for challenging conditions on and off the track. The weather had little effect on the young riders of the STEVENS factory team in particular, and Benedikt Benz took his second national title in a row in the U19 Junior class. After an absolutely confident ride and victory with a lead of over a minute, he will also be able to compete in the German champion's jersey in the coming season. Anton Kochanowski rounded off a great team result with the bronze medal in the U19 juniors.

Josh Tietjen also won his second DM gold in the U17 youth category, once again demonstrating his incredible racing prowess.

Eike Behrens narrowly missed out on U23 gold. As one of the favourites in the U23 field, he was only stopped by a puncture, but showed extraordinary fighting spirit and still rode to DM silver with a 30-second lead. Silas Kuschla finished in the top 5 in the strong U23 field.

Natalie Kaufmann also put in a great performance. The mountain bike specialist secured the U23 bronze medal in the women's race.

Stefan Danowski also took bronze in the Masters 3 category. However, the 2024 German champion fell slightly short of his own expectations. Nevertheless, his seventh medal of the weekend was a great team success.

Results

Belgian Championships Heusden-Zolder

Elite Women
1st Marion Norbert Riberolle

Men Elite
2nd Laurens Sweeck

Men U23
1st Aaron Dockx

Women U23
2nd Xaydee van Sinaey

Dutch Championships Oisterwijk

Men U23
2nd Guus van den Eijnden

British Championships Gravesend

Men Elite
1st Cameron Mason

German Championships Chemnitz

Men Elite
3rd Luca Harter

Men U23
2nd Eike Behrens

Juniors U19
1st Benedikt Benz
3rd Anton Kochanowski

Youth male U17
1st Josh Tietjen

Women U23
3rd Natalie Kaufmann

Masters 3
3rd Stefan Danowski

Medal table
5x gold
4x silver
4x bronze