February 03, 2019 (Bogense, Denmark) – The 2019 UCI Cyclocross Worlds wrapped up on Sunday in clear and sunny conditions as Canada’s Ruby West, the reigning national U23 Women’s champ, brought home a strong top-20 result while Michael van den Ham, the current Elite Men’s champ, placed 35th in the Elite Men’s race as the Dutch ruled the day.

West was as high as 18th in the 6-lap U23 Women’s 15.75 km race that saw the Netherlands dominate as Inge Van Der Heijden led a podium sweep for the Dutch orange squad. Fellow Canuck Magdeleine Vallieres Mill moved up well to finish 28th while Sidney McGill raced to 41st, Dana Gilligan was 44th and Kelly Lawson finished 46th.

“Denmark you were so special. Not quite the day I was hoping for yesterday, but happy with the effort on the day to finish off the season with a top 20! Now for some time off and then back to the drawing board for 2020,” tweeted West.

The Elite men’s 12-lap, 31.35 km competition saw Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) battling several Belgian rivals as he and defending world champ, Wout van Aert (Bel), asserted themselves and a two-horse race emerged with massive fans cheers them on.

After winning nearly every race this season, Van der Poel was the favourite, but was unable to defeat Van Aert and claim the rainbow striped jersey for the past three years.

A slip by Van Aert saw smooth-riding Van der Poel get a gap which he extended to finally re-claim the title. Van Aert edged out teammate Toon Aerts for the silver.

Canada’s Van den Ham raced to 35th while Cameron Jette, who suffered and early crash finished 56th. “Very thankful to have made it, missed the big group I wanted, but solid race afterwards. Ended up in 35th. Once again, MvdP is fast beyond comprehension. Also, 5.5-minute laps and 1:09 race? C’mon UCI, do you want anyone to finish?,” tweeted MvD.

Results here.