Portland local Clara Honsinger continued her ascension into the top ranks of cyclocross with a second place finish at the UCI World Cup in Namur, Belgium on Sunday.

Honsinger (Cannondale P/B Cyclocrossworld.com) stormed through the field and set her sights on a podium finish about half-way through the grueling, one-hour race. On the third lap, Honsinger pedaled past current World Champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) for third place. “It’s wonderful to see from the American,” said race commentator Anthony McCrossan, who was clearly impressed with the 24-year-old rising star. Not satisfied with a podium position, Honsinger rode the difficult Namur course with enough skill and speed to catch and pass Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) for a comfortable second place finish.

It’s a massive accomplishment for Honsinger to not only get her first European World Cup podium, but to do it at Namur which is considered by most people to be the toughest course on the circuit.

Honsinger won the U.S. Under-23 National Championship in 2018, then followed it up by winning the Elite National Championship last year. Honsinger raced for Portland-based Sellwood Cycle Repair – Team S&M the past two years and signed a pro contract with the Cannondale – Cyclocrossworld.com team back in August.

Sunday’s performance sets Honsinger up well for the Covid-shortened World Cup scheduled. She’ll have three more races before the UCI World Championships on January 30th.

Keep up with Clara and support her season by following her on Instagram.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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