In the Scheldecross, the first round of the Cyclo-Cross World Cup, Eli Iserbyt was no match today. The Belgian champion raced away after round 3, only Michael Vanthourenhout and Laurens Sweeck could initially follow.
Iserbyt clearly felt at home in the sand and with a number of accelerations he caused the leading group to split. He systematically increased his lead and eventually won with a 17 second lead over Sweeck. Vanthourenhout came third.
In the chase it quickly became clear that Thibau Nys would no longer play a significant role. The European champion felt his shoulder. He would have crashed into a post and did not make it into the top ten.
Earlier in the day, Fem van Empel soloed to a win in Antwerp. — © BELGIUM
Fem van Empel is back with a vengeance among the women. In recent weeks she has missed several cyclo-cross races, but both yesterday and today the Dutch were unmatched. She soon pulled away from her competitors and turned it into a long solo. Lucinda Brand came back well, but had to settle for second place, Marie Schreiber finished third.
The Belgian riders were only a footnote in the story. Laura Verdonschot seemed to be off to a good start, but dropped to ninth place in the penultimate lap. Norbert-Riberolle finished in 16th place. Moors, Cant and Brouwers completed the top 20.
