Tibor Del Grosso left a question mark regarding his participation in the World Cup in Gavere on Boxing Day when announcing his cyclocross program for the Christmas period. That question mark has now been erased and replaced with an exclamation point: the Dutch champion will - along with, among others, Mathieu van der Poel - make his appearance during the classic race.
In Gavere, there is a combined race for elites and U23 riders. This means we see ten Dutch men and thirteen Dutch women participating. National coach Gerben de Knegt can select more athletes for the World Cup in Dendermonde next Sunday, as youth races are part of the program there again. Except for Van der Poel, there are no notable absences for the race in Dendermonde.
"With two podium finishes for Cas Timmermans and Delano Heeren in the junior men's category, the third place of Isis Versluis in the junior women, and the victory of David Haverdings in the U23, where we also took third and fourth, TeamNL performed very strongly in Koksijde. I think sand courses suit us Dutch riders well, but these are certainly promising results heading into the coming period and ultimately the World Championships in Hulst at the end of January/beginning of February."
