It started. Marianne Voss and Eli Esserbet won the Battle of Waterloo on Sunday. And on Monday, the cycling circus traveled from Chicago to Fayetteville, with the second round of the World Cup already listed on Wednesday. And also the first acquaintance with the place where the World Cup will be held at the beginning of 2022. cycling flash explores with you.
date
The cyclocross event in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where the World Cup will take place early next year, is an event with political merit. Brock Watts, the American organizer who previously also put Las Vegas and Waterloo on the cyclocross map and was in charge of developing the World Cup project, pulled out this spring after a political row with the state Arkansas.
The state passed a law early this year banning hormonal treatments or puberty inhibitors for underage transgender people. The Republican majority in the Senate pushed through the law and this has never been welcomed in the world of sports and cycling in the United States. The question has been raised loudly whether a country that greatly restricts the rights of a group in society can organize the World Cup.
sports medal
He didn’t come to it, but Brooke Watts announced at the end of April that he was withdrawing as organizer. can”They don’t live with the problematic situation in Arkansas.”, appeared in a statement. Similarities between Watts and Fayetteville Experience, the city’s tourism office, crashed. Meanwhile, he went to work with sports medal, which previously hosted the Tour of Utah, the Tour of California, and the World Road Championships in Richmond.
Among other things, this staircase is one of the obstacles in Centennial Park
Previously, a cyclo-cross race was only held in Fayetteville in 2019. This was a C2 cross and was done on a different track than the World Cup/World Cup track. Last year, the Pan American Championships was also supposed to take place there, but as in the rest of the US, Covid-19 has also thrown a wrench in the works. Thus, this World Cup race will be the first ever cross on the World Cup track at the end of January 2022.
Walmart
Another thing: the main sponsor of both events is the Walton family, owners of the American supermarket chain Walmart. Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, less than half an hour from Centennial Park in Fayetteville. With 2.3 million employees (and 11,400 stores in 26 countries), it is one of the largest private employers in the world. The Walton family is among the richest families on earth.
Latest Winners
men
2019: 
Keri Werner (C2 – different cycle)
women
2019: 
Maghalie Rochette (C2 – Ander course)
a trip
This World Cup tour – and thus the World Cup too in three and a half months – will take place in Centennial Park. The park is located a few minutes from downtown Fayetteville.
The circuit has a total length of 2.89 km, of which 3% is paved and 97% is grass. The course’s artificial obstacles include two bridges, a staircase, and a cobbled section. There is also a 250m slope with an average gradient of 7.4% and a maximum gradient of 15%.
Brook Watts began designing the course at the beginning of 2018 and was inspired by the many Belgian and Dutch bike races he’s visited in recent years. For example, he designed a ladder made of 38 steps. Brooks previously told us that he was primarily inspired by Ruddervoorde and Valkenburg, with a “touch” of Namur.
a program
Wednesday October 13
12:30 PM (7:30 PM with us): Women’s World Cup
2pm (9pm with us): Men’s World Cup
Location:
S Centennial Park Ln, Fayetteville, AR 72704 United States
Site organization
World Cup website
World Cup Twitter account
Participants are men and women
Favorite
men
The field of participants among the men is almost identical to that of the past few weeks, with the exception of the unlucky Thibau Nys. Of course still without the “cross-road racers” Van Art, Van der Poel, Bidcock, Merlier and Vermeersch, but with all the other hats, except for Laurens Sweeck. Soek has chosen not to move to the United States and is currently scheduling an internship in Mallorca. Tom Meeusen isn’t there either, and Kempenaar wasn’t selected.
My favorites are the same as the ones they have been in the past few weeks. still with View Aerts employment Elie Esserbit on top. actually Michael Fanthornhout especially Quentin Hermans After Waterloo an extra dash after their names. Iserbyt was better than Vanthourenhout, but Hermans (who finished third) was closest to the European champion. Without that slider on lap two, he would undoubtedly have finished second.
Esserbitt stood head and shoulders above the rest in Waterloo – Photo: Cor Vos
As with our previous preview, the latest stars go to Lars van der Haar employment Korn Van Kessel. The win might be a bit ambitious, but his former teammates should be able to compete for the podiums on the course at Centennial Park.
Dan Sweety and youth Ryan Camp Bem Ronhar employment Watching Vandebush He did well in Waterloo, but fell too little in the final to call them contender for a podium place. It should be possible to get close to the top five. Daan Soete may be able to utilize his MTB experience in this circuit.
Another special mention for Nils Vandeput, at Waterloo fifth in a row. The Alpecin-Fenix rider wowed with amazing speed on the final lap, making no fewer than five places. Will we see another strong final round from the young Belgian on Wednesday?
Favorites according to WielerFlits
*** Eli Eserbet
** Quentin Hermans, Tone Aerts
* Michael Fanthorenhout, Lars van der Haar, Cornet van Kessel
women
If the women’s race at Waterloo has shown us anything, it’s that women’s cyclo-cross continues to gain traction. The battle between Lucinda Brand employment Marian Voss His arrival in the final was particularly captivating. And what if Denis Betsima wasn’t affected by a chain problem in the first half? Now she had to shoot a cartridge to come back and she missed it in the final hundreds of meters to rival Brand and Voss for longer.
Due to progress in Waterloo, these three women are now at the top of our list, but Annemarie worstAnd Blanca Cata Vas employment Jolanda Nev They are three great rivals who can also only participate in today’s victory. We were told that riders with an MTB background are definitely not at a disadvantage at Centennial Park.
It was very exciting on Sunday in Waterloo – Photo: Cor Vos
In addition, we should not underestimate the value of the 250-meter climb. “A touch of Valkenburg and Nammen,” as Brooke Watts described it to us at the time. Oddly enough, the impact of this climb on the race track. In our star distribution, we only have space for six names, for example Yara Castleline outside the boat. But she could also compete for the podium in Fayetteville.
We are also curious about the performance of the Three Dutch Promises Book PetersAnd Sherine from Norway employment Wim Van Ampel. They can also look better in Fayetteville than they did on Sunday at Waterloo, although the top five is still a bit ambitious at the moment.
Favorites according to WielerFlits
*** Marian Voss
** Blanca Cata Fez, Denis Betsima
* Lucinda Brand, Jolanda Neff, Annemarie Wurst
Weather and TV
The women’s and men’s competitions are covered by Telenet Play Sports and Proximus in Belgium (both on the open network from 7pm). Matches can also be followed live on Eurosport. Sporza will provide a comprehensive summary later.
Here are the weather forecasts for Fayetteville according to Weather.com. And that wouldn’t be a windfall, because severe thunderstorms are expected. The past few days were no different. On Sunday, the course had to be halted for some time due to hurricane risk. But fortunately, that has now passed.
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