Dirty Dancing: Cyclo Cross World Championships 2012

Niels Albert (Belgium)
More of a battle than a dance, the struggle to become Cyclo Cross World Champion 2012 was held in Koksijde (Belgium) last January.
Less glamorous than the fashionable Mountain Bike racing, Cyclo Cross is almost a throwback to the heroic days of Road Cycling, when roads were not what they are now.
The hunt for the 2011 GSN champions, Belgium, was a tough one. Last year the Belgians won through strength in depth: they did not clinch the Men or the Women’s golds, which went to the Czech Republic and Netherlands respectively but they placed 4 athletes in the first 8 Men (2nd, 3rd, 6th and 8th) , a great team effort that put them on top of GSN’s Cyclo Cross Global Cup.
This year the Belgians won again, in great style: Niels Albert took the Men’s gold followed by 6 (six) of his countrymen in a sensational all-Belgian cavalcade. R. Simunek for the Czech Republic was 8th and the only non-Belgian among GSN points scorers.
 
 Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
 
Second place overall in our ranking were the Netherlands, with a strong performance in the Women: they took gold (Marianne Vos), silver and 4h and 7th place. The Belgian women however rose to the challenge, and Sanne Cant was third by inches in the Women’s race.