Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) emerged victorious on the Overijse spherical of the Superprestige after an exhilarating battle with Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal).
The 2 Belgians traded blows for the ultimate three laps of the gruelling circuit, and whereas Iserbyt was greater than a match on the early climb over mud and cobbles, Nys had the sting via the extra technical sections, and on the ultimate laps he managed to tease open the cracks he’d discovered on the earlier laps.
Iserbyt had seemed to hit him on these uphill cobbles however Nys took again management forward of the collection of technical sections in the course of the circuit, getting a spot as he dived downhill via the woods, earlier than extending it on a muddy hairpin that he ran from begin to end – a tactic Iserbyt had begun to repeat having misplaced floor there two laps beforehand.
Iserbyt tried to combat again within the latter a part of the circuit however the harm was achieved and Nys held agency to rejoice his first win of a cyclo-cross marketing campaign that had been delayed by sickness. Iserbyt crossed the road two seconds down, with Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) rising as the most effective of the remaining to clinch the ultimate spot on the rostrum at 4 seconds.
“I’ve the sensation I nonetheless have to get up as a result of I’m residing a dream for the second,” Nys stated. “Individuals do not realise how tough the final two weeks have been.
“I have been trying ahead to the cyclo-cross season all summer time so to overlook out on the ultimate weeks of preparation on account of sickness… being removed from my stage… it is so tough to maintain the arrogance once you by no means have the nice feeling in coaching or races. This was a psychological sport.”
Nys, who opened his marketing campaign with thirteenth at Actual Cross Beringen after which twelfth on the opening spherical of the Superprestige in Ruddervoorde final weekend, suffered one other set-back throughout the race itself in Overijse, when he was compelled to cease and repair a mechanical on the third of the eight laps. A powerful seven-man group was solely simply forming when he slipped out on a technical mud part and compounded the issue by operating his rear mech right into a picket submit, forcing him to re-string his jammed chain.
His head may need dropped however as a substitute he calmly made his method again to the group throughout the area of a lap. Not solely that, however he quickly got here via and led the chase of European champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), who’d launched a solo assault. Nys hit it once more on the climb on the fifth lap, by the top of which the group of seven had been again collectively, the opposite members being Iserbyt, Vanthourenhout, Van der Haar, plus David Haverdings (Baloise Trek Lions) and the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo of Niels Vandeputte and Jenthe Michels.
Lap six was the place Nys and Iserbyt went away, Nys this time monitoring the assault from his compatriot on the early climb earlier than easing previous and zipping clear along with his determination to run up that muddy hairpin. Vandeputte put in a formidable lap to hold onto their coattails however on the penultimate lap the climb was telling as soon as extra as Nys and Iserbyt eased clear. Likewise, the uphill muddy hairpin was telling, with Iserbyt copying the early dismount however stumbling and dropping a few seconds as soon as once more.
The pair crossed the road solely simply forward of Vandeputte and a resurgent Van der Haar, nevertheless it nonetheless felt like a two-horse race, and so it proved as they hit the essential early climb for the ultimate time. Nys led up the muddy part, earlier than Iserbyt tried to counter on the cobbles, however they had been well-matched. Nys succeeded in nipping via to guide via the technical sections, which included a twisting ‘carousel’, that muddy hairpin, and a quick run down via the woods the place Nys had constantly seemed extra sure-footed on the off-cambers.
These superior traces gave him a small margin, which Iserbyt could not sew again collectively regardless of his finest out-of-the-saddle efforts out of the corners that remained. And so it was for Nys to nip down onto the tarmac, beat his chest, name for calm, and level to the sky as he crossed the road.
Final week’s shock winner Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon) produced a outstanding late cost to complete fifth, regardless of not being among the many operating for a lot of the race, to stay on the high of the general Superprestige standings, tied on 26 factors with Vandeputte, who was fourth on the day.
Outcomes
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