The Ostend event is the last of eight that kicked off in Ghent in October, and it is no surprise to see Pieter Desmet at the top of the rankings. Desmet, 28, from Kortrijk, won the Cross Cup four seasons in a row until last year, when Jeroen D’Hoedt clinched the title. But Desmet, who has accumulated 115 points so far, has to share the current league leadership with Atelaw Bekele, the Ethiopian-born European champion who became a Belgian citizen in 2008.
No relation to Kenenisa Bekele, who has dominated the world cross-country events in the past decade, Atelaw Bekele (pictured) left Ethiopia for Belgium when he was just 16. A member of Atletiek Vlaanderen (Athletics Flanders), which supports up-and-coming athletes, Bekele’s personal bests of 29:47.60 and 13:43.20 in 10,000m and 5,000m respectively are relatively modest. But last December he set a marker for his international rivals when he took Belgium’s first-ever gold at the European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia.
Having trained for a month at altitude in Ethiopia, the 24-yearold proved particularly adept on the uphill sections of the course. Desmet’s experience may prevail in the deciding race in Ostend, but right now, the momentum is clearly with Bekele.
On the women’s side, there is little suspense: Veerle Dejaeghere, who dominates female cross-country in Belgium, only needs to finish the Ostend race in the top 10 to secure her 11th title since 1998.
www.lottocrosscup.be
Meanwhile, further east, Nokere Koerse may not have the status and prestige of the Tour of Flanders, but it makes up for it in conviviality. The one-day semi-classic cycle race, this year on 14 March, has been held since 1944, initially as the Grand Prix Jules Lowie in honour of 1938 Paris-Nice winner, who was born in Nokere.
The 196km circuit is the racing highlight of the year for the Nokere community, which pulls out all the stops to make it a great day out. The route always ends in Nokeredorpstraat, the main street of the village, where there is a 400m uphill finish on a 6% gradient over cobblestones. Won last year by Hasselt-born Gert Steegmans, its winners are rarely giants of cycling, but they are definitely local heroes.
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