Disappointment for Van der Poel, only eighth. The Dutch Puck Pieterse confirmed all his talent, dominating in the women's field. Too bad for Silvia Persico, fourth just a whisker from the podium.
Source: press release
The men's Val di Sole title remains in Belgium, and the 2022 podium has the smile of Michael Vanthourenhout, 29 years old, reigning European Champion and second in Vermiglio in 2021: not surprisingly, what Van der Poel had indicated as the rival to fear for Saturday's race. The Belgian emerged from a three-way challenge launched in the first laps of the race by the Swiss Kevin Kuhn and the other Belgian Niels Vandeputte, with Eli Iserbyt and Laurens Sweeck behind them, while Van den Poel struggled to emerge.
On the third lap, Vanthourenhout's clean driving, capable of a practically error-free race, put his first adversaries on the ropes, allowing him to gain the margin that would have consecrated him at the finish line in Vermiglio.
Vandeputte and Kuhn fought each other for the places of honor, with a third wheel called Laurens Sweeck, not surprisingly the leader of the World Cup. In Val di Sole, however, the young riders had the upper hand: Vandeputte, born in 2000, second, and Kuhn, 1998, third, both on their first career podium.
Sweeck, fourth, can smile anyway: his first rival for the Cup, Iserbyt, was sidelined by a painful fall, so much so that he was forced to retire, but without serious consequences: he now has a 23-point margin on top of Vanthourenhout after 10 of the 14 stages on the calendar.
Van der Poel finishes eighth at 3:14, very dark in the face. He slips away into the crowd that has been calling him loudly throughout the match (7.000 visitors at Vermiglio on Saturday), and we can swear that the proof of redemption won't be long in coming. To make peace with Vermilion's snow, however, he will have to wait another year. The best Italians at the finish line were Nicholas Samparisi, 14th, and Filippo Fontana, 15th.
Pieterse
MALE ARRIVAL ORDER
| 1 |  VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | 57:59 |
| 2 | VANDEPUTTE Niels | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 0:39 |
| 3 |  KUHN Kevin | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | 0:42 |
| 4 | SWEECK Laurens | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 0:44 |
| 5 | RÜEGG Timon | CROSS TEAM LEGENDS | 1:20 |
| 6 | BAESTAENS Vincent | 2:37 | |
| 7 |  RONHAAR Pim | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 2:51 |
| 8 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 3:14 |
| 9 | AERTS Thijs | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 3:19 |
| 10 | VAN KESSEL Corné | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | ' |
WOMEN: GORGEOUS PIETERSE IN THE DUTCH HAT-TRIBUTE. SILVIA PERSICO FADES THE PODIUM
The snow of Val di Sole has been able to upset the forecast also in the women's field. Fem Van Empel, the strongest athlete of this season, who had achieved her first success in the World Cup in Vermiglio in 2021, this time she did not find a day to remember. Having already crashed at the first turn, together with many others, the young Dutchwoman finished her race on the second lap: like for Iserbyt, bad hit and withdrawal, but fortunately without weight consequences.
Puck Pieterse, the other protagonist of the women's cyclo-cross season, instead made very little mistakes, winning with full merit a race dominated for more than half.
The first extension of the day was attempted by Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, chased and caught up by Pieterse and the Italian Silvia Persico. In the second lap, however, Pieterse was able to take advantage of a mistake by her rivals to sink the blow and open a gap that would prove to be decisive.
After halfway through the race, Silvia Persico's technical difficulties began, victim of some slips and chain jumps, and for this reason also reached by the other Dutchman, Manon Bakker, just in view of the last lap. While Pieterse and Alvarado consolidated their positions, Bakker overtook Persico: the Italian tried to bring her wheels back in front of her opponent's with a delayed braking but the lack of grip compromised the Italian Champion's attempt. The order of arrival says Pieterse ahead of Alvarado (+ 0.44), Bakker (+ 1.26) and Persico (+ 1.34). Another Italian, Sara Casasola, finished in the top-10, in eighth place, with Eva Lechner twelfth.
"Val di Sole always manages to surprise, whether it's MTB or cyclocross, beautiful races are staged”, said Puck Pieterse. – “The route was even more treacherous than this morning. In the end, it was a matter of gaining confidence as the rounds went by. We've all made mistakes, but I've managed to make fewer than my colleagues. "
"I felt good but at one point I started to lose grip and I still have to figure out why”, declared Silvia Persico instead. – “I'm still happy with the performance, but in cyclocross technique also counts, and snow isn't my favorite surface. I thank the public for their support: now I'm aiming for my first victory in the World Cup in one of the next stages".
FEMALE ARRIVAL ORDER
| 1 | PIETERSE Puck | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 50:14 |
| 2 | ALVARADO Ceylin Del Carmen | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 0:44 |
| 3 | BAKKER Manon | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 1:26 |
| 4 |  PERSIAN Sylvia | 1:34 | |
| 5 |  ROCHETTE Maghalie | " | |
| 6 |  SCHREIBER Marie | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | 3:33 |
| 7 |  CLAUZEL Helene | AS BIKE RACING | 4:07 |
| 8 | CASASOLA Sarah | SELLE ITALIA - GUERCIOTTI - ELITE | 4:10 |
| 9 | MCGILL Sydney | 4:16 | |
| 10 |  ZEMANOVA Kristyna | BRILON RACING TEAM MB | 4:17 |
