Major success for grenke – Auto Eder: Lars Peers is the new junior European Cyclocross Champion. In Zeddam, the Netherlands, the 16-year-old Belgian came out on top against his teammate, world champion Delano Heeren.
The European Championships are one of the highlights of the cyclocross winter, and in the junior category, too, the jersey with the stars is among the most coveted of the season. The title races were held today in Zeddam, the Netherlands. The defining feature of the course was a newly built staircase of around 100 steps, which reigning U19 World Champion and grenke – Auto Eder rider Delano Heeren (Netherlands) had described as “decisive” before the start. Heeren and his teammate Lars Peers (Belgium) both went into the U19 race as favourites – and both lived up to that role in impressive fashion.
As is customary at championships, both riders raced for their national teams. For Peers, however, the race began with a setback when a crash on the opening lap left him trailing. While Heeren went clear at the front, Peers launched a furious chase behind. He first broke up his group, then bridged across to the first chasers at the start of the fourth lap. In the second half of the race, he closed the ten-second gap to his teammate on his own. Once he made contact, the Belgian went straight past and rode solo to the title. Heeren took silver, with bronze going to Bas Vanden Eynde (Belgium).
For the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe junior team, the one-two sends a strong signal. This winter, the team is competing with its own cyclocross set-up for the first time. Both Peers and Heeren have only been riding for the U19 squad grenke – Auto Eder since September. At the first major championship of the winter, the two teammates settled the title between themselves. Italy’s Matteo Gualtieri, the third grenke – Auto Eder rider in the field, rounded off a strong team performance with 19th place.
“A crash on the opening lap put me on the back foot, but I stayed focused and never stopped believing. I fought my way back, gave everything I had and crossed the finish line first. I’m super happy to have won the title and hope to keep showing my good form in the next races.”
— Lars Peers
“This double victory at the U19 Cyclocross European Championships is a fantastic achievement and an important milestone for our development programme. We only recently started building our cyclocross activities, so achieving success at this level already shows that we are on the right path. It underlines our ambition to become a leading force in developing young talent, both on the road and in cyclocross.”
— Tim Meeusen, Director of Development
