Published November 1, 2022 06:47AM
American teenager Andrew August wins men's junior race at Koppenbergcross
Young American finishes almost a minute clear of his closest rivals to take the biggest win of his season.
US Andrew August celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the junior men's race during the Koppenbergcross, the first race (out of eight) of the X2O Badkamers trophy, in Melden, on Tuesday 01 November 2022. BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS (Photo by DAVID PINTENS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by DAVID PINTENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: Getty Images)
Andrew August stormed to the win in the junior men’s race at Koppenbergcross on Tuesday. The 16-year-old, who is part of the Euro Cross Academy, finished well clear of Oliver Akers and Vaclav Jezek to win the race.
Just a few days ago, August had finished fourth in the junior men’s race at the Maasmechelen round of the World Cup. After the race he penned an exclusive diary for VeloNews, stating: “This marked my best finish in a World Cup race and now gives me confidence for the rest of the season.”
August, who had a busy season on the road in Europe before switching to cyclocross for the winter, attacked early on the first lap and built up a healthy lead over the chasers. He managed to maintain and even extend his advantage to 46 seconds by the finish, winning alone and taking a huge win for both himself and the Euro Cross Academy.
“I’m just super happy to win on such an iconic course,” August told VeloNews.
“I took it up on the first lap and accelerated away on one of the straight sections. I found myself with a small gap and then just built on that. The plan was to basically ride my own race, and that’s how it panned out in the end. Once I had the gap at over 30 seconds I knew that I had the win as long as I stayed out of trouble. This is my biggest cyclocross win, and to do it at such an important race is an amazing feeling.”
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August will return to the US after this block of racing before building up the US nationals later this winter. He will return to Europe for more cyclocross action in the new year and then switch back to the road. Tuesday’s win in Belgium is a huge confidence booster for the young rider.
“This gives me confidence for the year and I can now say that I’m one of the top riders now. I want to carry that into the rest of the season. The camp has been great and it’s really paid off. From here I’ll go home and rest. Then it’s a preparation race, and then nationals. I’ll come back to Europe after nationals.”