The few spectators were able to enjoy the 48th International Cyclo-cross of the ACC Contern in glorious sunshine, despite the weather having been rather miserable in the days leading up to the race. Located mostly on slopes, the course had time to drain its excess water in a few hours and was therefore fairly dry and fast, despite a few muddy sections in the forest. The bad news before the race was, of course, the absence of Marie Schreiber. Registered for the event, the Luxembourgish star of women's cyclo-cross had announced a few days earlier that she would be unable to participate, due to a persistent infection that had been plaguing her since the road world championships in Rwanda. Faced with competition from foreign organisations, with around ten UCI Cross races taking place on this last Sunday in October alone, including the prestigious Superprestige in Overijse, the ACC Contern had obviously been counting on the U23 world championship silver medallist to attract the crowds, but had to come to terms with the fact that there would be no big star at the start on the traditional course around the rue de Moutfort this year, but in exchange, there would be a fairly balanced international field that promised suspense and new winners, such as Larissa Hartog and Wout Janssen in the respective elite categories.

In front of a small crowd, around twenty novices, both boys and girls, took part in the first race of the day. Leo Marc Lanners quickly took the lead, a few metres ahead of Paul Moog and a small group consisting of Yannis Elsen, Noé Garcia Pinnel, Lorenzo Astolfi and Bjarne Bauer. Although Lanners managed to stay in front for the rest of the race, he was unable to get rid of Paul Moog, who was consistenly chasing just a few seconds behind. Behind the two men, the gaps were widening: Skoda Cross Cup leader Lorenzo Astolfi was already more than a minute behind, along with Yannis Elsen, while Bjarne Bauer and Filip Wolter from Dippach were even further back. After a fierce battle in the final laps, Leo Marc Lanners won the 35th edition of the Grand Prix COMAT in the beginners category, just 8 seconds ahead of Paul Moog. Lorenzo Astolfi, who finished third in the race, managed to maintain his lead in the Skoda Cross Cup with a comfortable margin over Moog. In the girls' race, Sarah König got a better start than Chiara Christen, who had won last weekend in Mondorf and the season opener in Reckange. The CT Atertdaul rider then pulled away and finished the race in a very good twelfth place in the joint classification with the boys, more than two minutes ahead of Christen, who finished 15th overall. In the Skoda Cross-Cup standings, the two girls were noted with the same number of points, but the rules allowed Chiara Christen to claim the splendid green leader's jersey for her own.

Podium in the novice category: Paul Moog, Sarah König, Leo Marc Lanners, Lorenzo Astolfi

The junior race was a thrilling affair, with a large group battling it out for victory, changing positions right up to the finish line and it ultimately came down to a sprint in the final straight line. Unsurprisingly, the numerous Belgian riders dominated the category, with five of them leading the race after one lap, accompanied by two Frenchmen: Maxime Smits was riding at the front with Toon De Peuter, Seppe Sprangers, Dani Maenen, Jules Van Oirbeek, Maxence Detre and Louis Regost. Ben Fleming was the first Luxembourger at this point of the race in around twelfth position, accompanied by Ben König and Dawson Fehlen-Perreira. Danni Maenen looked very strong at the front of the race and pushed the pace several times, causing the trio of Van Oirbeek, Detre and Regost to fall back, where they were joined by Alessio Roelandt. At the front, Smits and Sprangers, the two Acrog-Tormas teammates, managed to contain Maenen's aggressive attempts, while De Peuter remained also in contention. The four riders were unable to seperate each other until the very last few hundred metres, when Maxime Smits proved to be the strongest. The Belgian won by a length ahead of Toon De Peuter and a few metres ahead of his teammate Seppe Sprangers, who was slightly faster in the sprint than the unfortunate Danni Maenen, one of the day's most agressive riders. On the Luxembourg side, Ben Flemming managed to pull away from his compatriots in the second half of the race and finished in a very good 11th place, unfortunately just three seconds away from the precious UCI points he would have deserved to earn, given his good race. Fehlen Perreira finished about thirty seconds and one position further back, while Ben König in fifteenth place conceded a good minute and a half to Fleming, who of course remains at the top of the Skoda Cross Cup overall standings.

Maxime Smits leading the junior race ahead of Dani Maenen, Toon De Peuter and Seppe Sprangers

Despite the absence of Marie Schreiber, a Luxembourgish rider led the women's peloton during the early moments of the race: Maïté Barthels got off to a very good start ahead of Juline Delcommune and Liv Wenzel, but was soon overtaken by Larissa Hartog. The Dutch rider, who finished 10th in the Gravel World Championships only a few days ago, took a decisive lead in the race, while the other favourite of the day, Perrine Clauzel, struggled after a very poor start. However, the former European mountain bike champion was not going to give up and gradually made her way back to the front. After one lap, Hartog had already pulled away and was leading by around 30 seconds ahead of a group including Maïté Barthels, Liv Wenzel and former Belgian champion Joyce Vanderbeken, followed closely by the French riders Clauzel, Laura Piernet and Adèle Hurteloup. Elena Lopes was first in the under-19 category, together with Belgium's Yana Parthoens and slightly ahead of June Nothum, leader of the Cross-Cup. Over the next few laps, Perrine Clauzel overtook Wenzel, Barthels and Vanderbeken to settle firmly into second place and she kept the suspense going as she closed in on Larissa Hartog, only fifteen seconds back at one point. Liv Wenzel and Maïté Barthels battled for third position, ahead of Vanderbeken and Hurteloup. In the last two laps, Larissa Hartog pulled away again and ultimately won the Grand Prix COMAT on her own, 42 seconds ahead of Perrine Clauzel. After a superb performance, Liv Wenzel climbed onto the third step of the podium as best young rider and and first Luxembourgish woman in the race, while Maïté Barthels had to concede some ground at the end of the race in sixth position. Yana Parthoens finished first in the junior classification, one minute ahead of Elena Lopes and June Nothum, the solid leader of the Skoda Cross-Cup overall classification despite belonging to the youngest category.

Larissa Hartog, winner in the elite women race

Around thirty riders took part in the men's elite and U23 race where Wout Janssen took the lead as of the very first lap. The Belgian, who finished a solid fourth of the race in Essen a few days ago, just two seconds behind winner Vandenbosch and ahead of riders such as Mason and Sweeck, was the clear favourite for the race and was determined to live up to that status. After one lap, Janssen had a ten-second lead over France's Lorenzo Marasco. Next came Arne Baers, Ugo Ananie and, a little further back, Wies Nuyens, Théo Jung, Thomas Verheyen, Ingmar Uytdewilligen, Arnaud Gillet and Raphaël Kockelmann, the best home rider. With a very good start, the Sebmotobikes Team rider was ahead of Rick Meylender and Lennox Papi in the ranking of Luxembourg riders at the beginning of the race. Janssen then pulled further away from a trio that was formed by Marasco, Ananie and Baers, ahead of Uytdewilligen and Czech rider Patrik Lienert, who made a strong comeback after a poor start. Lennox Papi also moved up the field with apparent ease and was now on the verge of the top 10, having distanced Kockelmann, Meylender and also Elio Clarysse, the Belgian leader of the Skoda Cross-Cup. The positions remained largely unchanged in the second part of the race, except that Arne Baers found himself distanced by the two Frenchmen Marasco and Ananie, while a little further back, Papi continued his impressive move, up in the rankings. Wout Janssen won the 18th edition of the Grand Prix de la Commune de Contern in a solo ride, 39 seconds ahead of Ugo Ananie, who managed to shake off Lorenzo Marasco in the final metres of the meadow. Arne Baers finished fourth ahead of Lienert and Uytdewilligen, while Lennox Papi took a superb seventh place. With a strong finish, the young Luxembourger was almost three minutes ahead of Raphaël Kockelmann, the second home rider in 19th place. Two places ahead of him, Elio Clarysse managed to keep the Skoda Cross-Cup jersey on his back thanks to the lead he built up in the first three races of the season in Reckange, Kayl and Mondorf.

Wout Janssen, winner of the 18th GP de la Commune de Contern