There was no crazy New Year’s Eve for the cyclo-cross riders, because on New Year’s Day they had to go straight back to work. No Michael Vanhourenhout, Lars van der Haar or Mathieu van der Poel in Baal: the first is ill and the two others are struggling with minor ailments. It was the ideal opportunity for Eli Iserbyt to consolidate his lead in the X20 classification, but Thibau Nys was of course eager to add his father’s GP to his list of achievements: something he had not yet achieved with the pros.
Faltering start for Nys
Nys junior has been showing more and more regularity in his performances in the last few competitions – with four podium places in a row – but his last victory dates back to the Rapencross at the beginning of November. While Toon Aerts, as is often the case, came out on top, the European champion’s start was not exactly spectacular. He immediately had to give up some positions in front of his own team due to a problem with his shoe and even flew over his handlebars.
The Belgian beach racing champion, Daan Soete, had the lead, but soon had to give it up to the duo Pim Ronhaar – Emiel Verstrynge. After his bad start, Nys gradually got going and, together with Iserbyt and Aerts, headed towards the two leaders. It is clear: he wanted and would do everything he could to win the cross in his backyard. Due to the problem with his shoe, he briefly went into the equipment station – where the shoe change happened very quickly – so he had to release Iserbyt again. So chase again.
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Up and about it
And that pursuit did not go smoothly. While the Belgian champion found himself at the front, Nys could not immediately close the meters. All that bad luck clearly caused some fatigue, and Toon Aerts left the European champion behind. He will have to wait at least another year longer for a win in his Baal.
In the meantime, Iserbyt had jumped on and over Verstrynge and Ronhaar, but the young duo did not give up immediately, although the deficit grew larger and larger by the minute. Would the Belgian champion finally win again after several unpleasant weeks due to his persistent injury?
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The answer is yes. At the start of the last lap, the lead over Ronhaar was nine seconds, and he did not give that away. Ronhaar kept his companion behind him and finished second, Verstrynge came in third.
Top 10
1. That is, Iserbyt
2. Pim Ronhaar
3. Emiel Verstrynge
4. Toon Aerts
5. Thibau Nys
6. Girl Michels
7. Toon Vandebosch
8. Cameron Mason
9. Michael Boros
10. Anton Ferdinande
