CX Course Reviews 2021-2022: Zonhoven

Next on the list is the WorldCup in Zonhoven. A classic, albeit a young one. The course has been virtually unchanged since 2011, with only very minor differences since then, and of course the ‘Kuil’ is the main feature. Aside from the ‘Kuil’, there are multiple less obvious but still very challenging sand sections, the big one is a deep rutted u-turn at the bottom of a straight sandy climb, which decided the men’s race, and has done the same for many races over the years.

The course makes it just over the 2.5 km mark, but the change for this year was mainly the circumstances. Because there has been quite a lot of rain over the past few weeks the sand wasn’t terribly difficult compared to other years. The aforementioned straight sandy climb was rideable for over 50% of the attempts at the front of the men’s race, which has usually been very different. The same goes for the other sand sections outside of the ‘Kuil’, which itself was as challenging as in previous years. Because of the slightly easier sand the course was very fast, there are already hardly turns on this course, and if the sand isn’t super hard, it’s like a racetrack. We saw this mainly in the men’s race with 6 riders fighting for the win for most of the race.

On to the rules; I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but depending on your interpretation both the start and the finish rules were broken. There is a 135m section of bitumen put there especially for the race a few years ago, and the finishline is just under 100m from the final turn. From the startline until the first real turn must be close to or more than 150m, but there’s a chicane in the middle of this ‘straight’, and half of the distance is on the grass. I’d say it violates the rule. The problem with that interpretation is that the first corner then is a u-turn, so the rule is broken regardless. But other than that, it’s a perfect course, though on the short side, especially for a World Cup. In my opinion, there could be a case made for changing the course up a little, much like I argued for Iowa City, but if that doesn’t happen there is no issue. The only way you could really mess this course up is making it too hard. The only thing to watch out for is the changing of the landscape. If this year’s relatively easy edition is more permanent (grass growing where sand used to be) rather than due to weather conditions I’d argue the course should be changed slightly.

The one minor flaw I saw was that the protection in the kuil was in the wrong position (I think). There are protective barriers down the entire sand section, but the worst crashes could happen near the bottom, with the rider crashing onto the grass, in a worst case scenario onto the barriers at the bottom which aren’t protected. The speeds are high, the likelihood of crashes there as well. You wouldn’t need more protective barriers, just move them from the top of the descent to the bottom.

In conclusion: Zonhoven is rightfully a classic, even though it’s only 10 years old, and I hope they manage to keep it on the calendar.
Rating: 10/10
Uci rules broken: 2 (5.1.020 , 5.1.021)