"A little guy suddenly came back on my wheel, that was Alaphilippe" - Lars van der Haar recalls annecdote from his last race on the World Championships course

Lars van der Haar has fond memories of Liévin. He'll be one of the very few at the start of World Championships this weekend who'll be able to make a good use of past experience from the course, even if those memories come from 13 years ago.

In 2008, the now 33-year-old Van der Haar came second in the European Cyclocross Championships for juniors (U19) behind compatriot Tijmen Eising. "And I think I also rode there as a world champion in the U23s," he recalls for WielerFlits. In 2012, there was a World Cup round in Liévin. "In the last two laps, a little guy suddenly came back on my wheel, that was Alaphilippe. Haha! Luckily, I was able to drop him in the last lap.”

"I have fond memories of the course. It is a very beautiful course and it does not need to change much for me. I am curious whether it is somewhat the same as it was then," says Van der Haar.

But what should we compare a course like Liévin to? "It’s a bit like Nommay. A big embankment and you go up and down a few times. If it’s muddy, you’ll have to walk a few parts. Then it’s just a tough cross. But if it’s just in between, then you get a really nice cross with really nice power sections. There’s a slightly longer slope in there, which is really nice to take. It’s a really versatile course."

Van der Haar notices a clear difference in the way the organisers build courses in France, compared to Belgium and Netherlands. "Here there are often narrow strips, lots of twists and turns. In France they are all 'running' bends and often there is also a muddy surface."

And how about his own ambitions? The Baloise Glowi Lions was third in the most recent World Cup round in Hoogerheide - that certainly boosts one's morale. "I definitely have the goal to be very good in Liévin. The middle period of the season was not what I expected, so that has its consequences. That is why I want to be good at the World Championship. But I have stuck to my plan towards that, with the goal of finishing close to the podium."