At the start of the Superprestige in Gullegem, all eyes were on Wout van Aert. In West Flanders, he took to the field for the second time this season on Saturday. In Loenhout he again had to abandon the gluttonous Mathieu van der Poel and finished fourth, but in Gullegem the Dutchman was not there. Opportunities for Van Aert, even if the competition was not bad with, among others, the Belgian champion Eli Iserbyt, the Superprestige leader Niels Vandeputte, the winner yesterday in Koksijde Laurens Sweeck and also outsiders like Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, Felipe Orts and Lars van der Haar at the start.
Solid leading group, leader Vandeputte misses the start
In any case, Van Aert’s start was perfect: from the start he took the wheel from Laurens Sweeck, Iserbyt and Orts were also good. The start was much worse for Superprestige leader Niels Vandeputte, he immediately disappeared from sight in sixteenth place. In the lead, Orts had taken the lead from Sweeck, Van Aert and Iserbyt continued to follow vigilantly. Before the end of the first round, about nine of them separated from the others. (Learn more below the article)
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The most enthusiastic riders in the lead were Michael Vanthourenhout, Laurens Sweeck and Emiel Verstrynge. All three narrowed the gap on the others. Van Aert didn’t want that to happen and went solo towards the trio. Van Aert’s condition was clearly good. Thanks to his efforts, the others were able to join us again and we obtained a ribbon of around ten people.
Van Aert devant, le fort Vanthourenhout suit
In the fourth round, Van Aert had warmed up and saw his moment coming: with a strong acceleration, he shot towards the head of the center, the others had to breathe to follow. Vanthourenhout, Sweeck and Wyseure were the only ones able to stay somewhat in the wheel. But the latter two quickly had to leave a gap and Wout van Aert and Michael Vanthourenhout therefore left together.
Logically, everything is not flawless for Van Aert: after a misdirection, a strong Vanthourenhout was able to take the lead. Iserbyt takes advantage of this and joins the duo. A little later, the Belgian champion even took the lead. He put Van Aert in the wheel, two seconds later Vanthourenhout and Wyseure followed. In the meantime, Niels Vandeputte has moved up to fifth place, although by a long way. In the lead, the Iserbyt-Van Aert-Vanthourenhout quartet seemed to be fighting for victory.
Fight to the last meters
Even if Wout van Aert had little interest in it. With a serious blow, he hurt others again. Only Iserbyt could now follow him, but he had great difficulty maintaining the wheel of the all-rounder. The two men entered the final round together. The duo provided a wonderful leapfrog performance. They each take turns taking the lead from the other, but in the end it is Van Aert who definitely takes the lead and forces Iserbyt out of the wheel.
As a result, Wout van Aert earned his first crossover victory in almost a year. After the victory on 01/21/2024 in Benidorm, it is now a success in Gullegem. Iserbyt gave everything and finished second, Michael Vanthourenhout completed the podium.
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