Vanthourenhout rides with European jersey to podium place in Niel

Sweeck, second in Ruddervoorde, is the leader in the Superprestige after two of eight crosses. He has two points ahead of Iserbyt and Van der Haar. The third heat will be held in Merksplas next Saturday. Kevin Kuhn took the best start and dived into the field first, but there was no separation yet. The first rounds were completed with a large leading group, including all the big names.

Due to a few shots from sand specialist Laurens Sweeck, the leading group became smaller. Sweeck, Vanthourenhout and Van der Haar proved to be the strongest of the pack. In the end, Sweeck managed to cut a gap. He dived into the fifth of nine laps with a sixteen second lead over Van der Haar and Vanthourenhout, who had briefly got stuck in a ribbon. Sweeck didn’t just get the win as a gift. Behind him, things did not stop, especially with a hard-working Lars van der Haar, who, however, had injured himself during a crash during the warm-up.

In the seventh round, the Dutchman managed to make the crossing, Vanthourenhout did not succeed and put everything in third place. Iserbyt did not participate in the front regions, partly due to his injury and a saddle fracture, but still managed to take fourth place, just ahead of a strong Witse Meeussen. In the final round, Sweeck put Van der Haar under pressure. After a strong passage in the sand strip, Sweeck had definitively rid himself of the Dutchman, good for his second victory of this season. At the end of October he won the World Cup cyclo-cross in Maasmechelen.

Van der Haar finished in three seconds. Vanthourenhout crossed the finish line in third at 35 seconds.