The Netherlands won all four categories of last year's UCI Cyclocross World Championships, which were held amid a coronavirus pandemic. It was a painful loss for Belgium, the historical giant of the sport. At this year's World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Joran Weisseule, Emil Verstlinge, and Tibau Nys swept the under-23 men's podium, turning the bitterness of last season into pure sweetness.

Dutch rivals defending champion Pim Longhaar, 2020 champion Ryan Kamp, and this year's World Cup winner Mies Hendriks were the three pre-race favorites to win, but came up empty.

Belgium dominated the race with classic teamwork and selfless riding, and coincidentally two of the three were on top of the last podium the country earned when Nys won the junior title and Verstrynge finished third in Dubendorf in 2020.

To set the stage, the frigid conditions of Friday's team relay were replaced by sun and warm temperatures. The undulating course of specially constructed grass thawed, but the speed did not diminish. The wind was strong, but the race was furiously fast, and by the second lap the 13-man lead pack was filled with the orange jerseys of the Netherlands and the sky blue jerseys of Belgium.

It was Weiseuer who first opened up a large gap. His attack was less dramatic, but his strong run on the stairs opened the gap wide, and Weiseuer, in his third year under 23, was probably not the first rider on the Dutch team's radar. He started on the second row and only launched his attack as a means of relieving the too-large front group.

"On the second lap, the group felt a little bit easier. On the second lap, the pack felt a little bit easier," he said. But then a gap formed, and that was enough for today."

The winning formula for the Belgian team, according to Thibaut Nys, was not to follow a pre-made plan, but to not go against each other. I think we did it in the perfect way. In a cyclocross race, it's not about helping someone win, it's about not messing up his plan."

Once Weiseuer was away, there seemed little the Dutch trio could do. The federation opted not to send a full team to the race due to cost issues, leaving them to contend with twice as many Belgians.

"The Belgians were too strong today," Camp told Cycling News. With three contenders for the win, the plan was that if you didn't feel your best today, you would give yourself up to the strongest rider." So after the second lap I tried to make myself work for Mies, and even with the addition of the two Dutch riders I wouldn't have been able to close the gap."

The Dutchmen chased hard, but with two laps to go, Hendriks was unlucky to be in the chase position, marked every step of the way by Belgians Emil Verstlinge and Tibau Neisse. Verstlinge was relentless in his attack when he saw that Weisseul was going to win the jersey, and Hendriks was too busy chasing to respond. Camp caught up to his teammate and tried to push Hendriks to the final podium, but was unable to shake off Nys. Scottish rider Cameron Mason led the three-man sprint, but Nys was too powerful and Hendriks could not react fast enough and had to settle for fourth place.

Hendriks was deeply disappointed that he could not contribute to the team. I'm very disappointed," he said. I came here to win the title and I didn't even make the podium. I'm very disappointed.

"I spent 60 percent of the race chasing and trying everything I could to close the gap, but I couldn't close it. When he started running away from me, I had no answer. Then came the sprint for the bronze medal, but I guess I wasn't paying attention and Tibau started early. 0]

But it was not the sprint that lost the race for the Dutchman, but his lack of cooperation in the large group behind the powerful Wyseur in the early stages.

"The moment Joran attacked, I couldn't join him quickly enough. 'The moment Joran attacked, I couldn't catch up to him quickly enough. After that, he escaped. Of course, as a Dutch team we had to lead the chase. It was very difficult to catch up. We couldn't work together right away and some riders didn't want to help.