Shirin van Anrooij focuses on Christmas period and world championships in home province

The day before the World Cup cross in Tábor, Van Anrooij looked ahead to the upcoming period in an interview with NOS. “I mainly want to enjoy it and get the feeling of cyclo-cross back. I’ll start from the last row because I haven’t earned any UCI points over the past season. The goal is to finish in the top sixteen, so that in two weeks’ time in Flamanville I can start a bit closer to the front.”

Van Anrooij achieved her goal, finishing sixteenth on Sunday in Tábor after a strong comeback ride. This means she will no longer have to start from the very last row in the next World Cup but can line up on the second row, which only increases her chances for a good result.

Van Anrooij will soon head to France for the World Cup race in Flamanville, but what else is on her schedule? “I’m racing the first three World Cups (Tábor, Flamanville, and Terralba, ed.) and then I’ll fly straight from Sardinia to Spain for the road team’s training camp. I will skip the Namur cyclo-cross.”

The 23-year-old Dutch rider wants to prepare in Spain for the crucial Christmas and New Year period. “I hope to improve week by week and want to be strong in those beautiful sand races like Koksijde and Zonhoven.”

World Championships at Home
Van Anrooij’s cyclo-cross season will culminate in Hulst, where the World Cyclo-cross Championships will take place early next year. As a native of Zeeland, she’s very eager to shine in front of a home crowd.

“The Worlds in Hoogerheide was also very special because I won there in the under-23 category, but also because it was just about a half-hour drive from my home in Goes. I could simply bike to the course familiarization. But now having the Worlds in my own province, that’s really something cool.”