The traditional Belgian Cyclocross event, Overijse Druivencross, proved to be exciting right to the end. Eli Iserbyt secured his first victory of the season, outpacing Michael Vanthourenhout and leaving Thibau Nys behind after a fall near the finish line.
The race started out highly competitive, with a start list featuring some of the top names in the Cyclocross world. Eli Iserbyt made a decisive move in the second lap of the technical circuit, establishing the first differences. Swiss rider Kevin Kuhn remained close, while Thibau Nys suffered a fall, resulting in a significant time loss.
Nys caught the chasing group at the end of the third lap, while Kuhn was also caught, leading to a clear pursuit of Iserbyt. In the fourth lap, Nys started the chase, more than 20 seconds behind when a bit of rain fell and made the course a bit more challenging.
In the fifth lap, Lars van der Haar overtook the chasing duo and reached Iserbyt himself, with Nys and Vanthourenhout following closely. The quartet looked fairly evenly matched until in the penultimate lap, Michael Vanthourenhout launched an attack.
Iserbyt attacks in the final lap
Van der Haar couldn’t follow him, while Iserbyt attacked in the last lap. Nys made a very risky move in the final minutes of the race to bomb Iserbyt on a descent, succeeding but dramatically falling in the process. Almost at the finish line, Iserbyt maintained the advantage over Michael Vanthourenhout to secure his first victory of the season – with Lars van der Haar and Thibau Nys finishing in third and fourth.
Watch the finish:
Results of the Telenet Superprestige Vlaamse Druivencross Overijse:
