Rag from mechanic Vanthourenhout cannot stop van Aert

Van Aert was knocked back at the equipment post in the fifth lap by a rag from Michael Vanthourenhout’s mechanic who was spinning in his derailleur after the Belgian champion hit a pole on the grounds of the Sport Ireland Campus at the start of the third lap. Still, WVA steamed through to the lead, to finally ride unthreatened to victory.

Eli Iserbyt and Laurens Sweeck got off to an excellent start. Wout van Aert, not yet in the front rows, didn’t have a great start like in Antwerp last week and needed some time to move up.

Acceleration Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout

In the second round, teammates Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout accelerated, Van Aert saw the danger and moved up to third place. The course, now almost completely thawed out, was more and more transformed into a mud bee and that made it more and more difficult. Everyone made a mistake sometimes, including Van Aert who drove into a pole at the equipment post in the third lap and had to let his five companions drive for a while.

Rag in gear device

Van Aert closed the gap, Iserbyt chased past Vanthourenhout and then brought the others back as well. Four laps had passed, seven riders still had a chance of winning. The leader of Jumbo-Visma grabbed a rag in round five. He had to return on foot and still change bikes. Van Aert lost 17 seconds, but he would again make his comeback at the front, just before entering the penultimate lap.

In that sixth lap, Sweeck briefly took command, but Van Aert quickly moved up to third. Pidcock had to slow down. And when Van Aert accelerated halfway through that sixth lap, no one had an answer. Van Aert dived into the final round with a bonus of just under 10 seconds and was otherwise spared bad luck. He extended his lead and soloed to victory.