Corne van Kessel was the second Dutch rider on the podium yesterday in Valkenburg. This was the first time in his career that he managed to reach the podium in a world cup cross.

While van Kessel finished second in the GP Brabant in Den Bosch, he didn’t start the first cross of the world cup with a lot of confidence. “I was feeling very weak in Ardooie this week. That made me worry for my form in this race”, he explained to Sporza after the race. But van Kessel exceeded his own expectations.

“I would have been happy with a top-ten spot” the rider stated. “In the last round the group in front of us was slowing down. That’s why Thijs van Amerongen and I were able to join Meeusen, Vantornout, Walsleben and Pauwels. If they wouldn’t have slown down, I would have finished sixth or seventh. But now I was able to finish third. I am really surprising myself here. Normally I don’t do to well in the heat, but today it didn’t affect me at all.