Diegem Superprestige

Here is a quick race report from the Diegem Superprestige before the Zolder World Cup on Monday.

After the short week of training, my body was back to normal and the legs were opened up and ready for Friday afternoon's race. After nailing my warm I lined up second row, ready to charge up the start climb. When the light turned green we flew up the hill into the 90 degree gravel left hand turn. It was total chaos through the next few slick 180 degree turns, with bikes and bodies flying everywhere.

I hung onto the front pack sitting in about 20th until we reached the sandpit. I got bogged down and stuck behind other riders making the group stretch out as we headed over the barriers and onto the pavement. Since the course mainly consisted of full gas pavement climbs and descents into sketchy 90 degree turns, it was a challenge to maintain your position without risking a high speed crash on pavement or on a slick muddy section.

Photo: Kurt Van Hout

As the race progressed I let a few people slip by me each lap, which was frustrating because there was a group of seven or eight riders that formed 15 seconds ahead of me. It was really vital to try and hold onto the riders that came around me but my legs were pretty taxed.

In the end I finished 27th out of almost 60 riders, out sprinting an unsuspecting Belgian rider with a bike throw at the line. In my last Superprestige I finished 42nd so this was a big step in the right direction and hopefully building towards a great result at the Heusden-Zolder World Cup on Monday!

Photo: Kurt Van Hout

Again, I really want to say thank you to USA Cycling for making organizing this trip as well as thanks to my family, my coach Joseph Maloney and my team, Trek Cyclocross Collective for all the support! Huge thanks to my sponsors Trek Bicycles, Bontrager, SRAM, Englewood Grass Fed Beef,  Mike's Mix and Honey Stinger for all their awesome support!

Happy Holidays from Sittard, NED!