Dutchman Niels Laros will continue his cross country season with an appearance on home soil at the Warandeloop in Tilburg, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver meeting, on Sunday 24 November.
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The Warandeloop will be streamed live without restriction through the European Athletics YouTube channel on 24 November from 1.00pm local time (CET)
Laros, who was crowned 2024 men’s Rising Star by European Athletics at the Golden Tracks in Skopje last month, will contest the senior 10km in Tilburg but his foremost goal for the winter season is to capture the U20 title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Türkiye on 8 December.
“I'm determined to turn second into first,” said Laros in a recent interview with European Athletics, alluding to Brussels 2023 last year when he narrowly missed out on the U20 title in a sprint finish against Denmark’s Axel Vang Christensen.
Laros faces a field which features the top four finishers from last year’s race in Tilburg, including Norway’s surprise winner Senay Fissehatsion who claimed the title twelve months ago ahead of Spain’s 2016 European 5000m champion Ilias Fifa.
The Dutch challenge in Tilburg will also be provided by European U23 1500m champion Stefan Nillessen, who lined up alongside Laros in the memorable and dramatic Olympic 1500m final in Paris 2024, and Filmon Tesfu, who recently moved up to the marathon and clocked 2:10:58 on his debut in Amsterdam only last month.
The senior women’s 8km is shaping up to be a head-to-head between Maureen Koster from the Netherlands and Sarah Lahti from Sweden, the two-time reigning champion who is on the comeback trail after surgery on her hamstring.
Koster will be looking to become the first Dutch winner of the senior women’s race in Tilburg since Sifan Hassan who won a hat-trick of titles between 2013-15. And if Lahti wins, she will become the first athlete since Hassan to win three successive titles in Tilburg.
There will also be a strong Belgian challenge on show in Tilburg with Juliette Thomas and Sofia van Accom, both of whom were part of Belgium’s bronze medal-winning team at last year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels, due to compete.
The programme will also include a short course event which will serve as a trial race to decide the Dutch mixed relay team at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. The winners of the short course races will gain automatic selection for Antalya.
The Netherlands won bronze in the mixed relay at the last edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels.
Steven Mills for European Athletics