Preview. Hoogerheide was the stage for last year's World Championships. This year it steps down back into World Cup level, but it will be round number 14 and the final round of the competition - as well as the final warm-up before the Tabor World Championships.
Grey skies will cover the Netherlands this weekend but rain is unlikely. The traditional track of Hoogerheide will be on display this weekend with it's grassy fields, several bridges and fast sections. It isn't a selective course which means that tactics will with no doubt be important and the first few laps are certainly going to see some mutual studying between the riders.
The second half features in quick succession the planks, an up and down bank section, a long stairs drag and an off-camber descent into the finishing straight. It is possible that some of the races will be decided only on the final lap and on this section. The finishing straight section features small uphill gradients but it is rather long and throughout the race will provide room for tactics to be played.
Overall it will be fast and explosive races surely. With dry conditions there is no true climbing or descending features that can create meaningful gaps. With no mud or sand in the mix, it will be up to the riders' form and technical abilities to keep the momentum all throughout the race.
A very fast race which may mimic Benidorm. There, Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse could not get a gap over each other and I expect a similar race here, very fast from the start but possibly being decided in a last-lap battle. The World Champion took the best, but Pieterse is equally as explosive. In a fast and technical track I expect Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado to perform once again quite close to the very best, and Lucinda Brand may also fight for the victory if she shows the form she had at the national championships two weeks ago.
We've got the wide and traditional field we've been hosting for the past few weeks. A few 'foreign' riders can be in the fight for the Top5 with no doubt such as Zoe Bäckstedt, Blanka Kata Vas, Sara Casasola and Marie Schreiber - all of which have already impressed this season.
Meanwhile in the Dutch field we've got plenty riders who are expected to try and fight for a place in the Top10: Annemarie Worst, Inge van der Heijden, Manon Bakker, Leonie Bentveld and Denise Betsema. In the meantime this isn't a muddy or sandy course to suit the Belgians, but Laura Verdonschot leads a nice contingent that also features Marion Norbert Riberolle and Sanne Cant. Hélène Clauzel, Ava Holmgren, Maghalie Rochette and Kristyna Zemanová will be further outsiders for the race.
This is the circuit where Mathieu van der Poel became World Champion last season. A fast and explosive track, it will be very hard to see anyone match him here. The Dutchman can crash out of victory such as last week's Benidorm race however and others will want to try and take advantage if so. This is a race where strategy matters, not burning matches early will be key. Eli Iserbyt and Thibau Nys are the kind of riders then who will be well suited to this track, and let's not ignore Lars van der Haar who also had a very strong performance last season here.
Iserbyt will be trying to defend his World Cup lead against Joris Nieuwenhuis who is the only rider with a minimum but still mathematical possibility of taking over the number one spot. However it's almost mission impossible. Baloise - Trek Lions will also have Pim Ronhaar to battle for a top result. Michael Vanthourenhout rode brilliantly in Benidorm and will be an interesting contender, the likes of Toon Vandebosch and Felipe Orts were also in great form and can surprise here.
Add into the mix then the following big figures, and it will make for a grand spectacle in the Netherlands: Kevin Kuhn, Ryan Kamp, Laurens Sweeck, Niels Vandeputte, Joran Wyseure, Jens Adams, Witse Meeussen, Clément Venturini and Cameron Mason.
The women's race will start at 13:40 local time and is estimated to finish at 14:30 local time. The men's race is set to start at 15:10 local time and is estimated to finish at around 16:15 local time.
You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website and Eurosport Player internationally, as well as the traditional outlets. The channels which will broadcast the race will include Sporza and Proximus (Belgium), Flobikes (Canada), L'Équipe (France), Ceska Televize (Czech Republic), TV2 (Denmark) and TV2 (Norway) and NOS.nl (Netherlands).
PREDICTIONS:
Women's Elite
*** Fem van Empel
** Puck Pieterse, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
* Lucinda Brand, Blanka Kata Vas, Annemarie Worst
Men's Elite
*** Mathieu van der Poel
** Eli Iserbyt, Michael Vanthourenhout
* Thibau Nys, Lars van der Haar, Joris Nieuwenhuis
Preview written by Rúben Silva.
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