World champions at the top in Caps Urban Cross Kortrijk

In the men’s world champion Pidcock won, he made rapid progress after his lesser start. The Brit went off alone, halfway through the Dutch champion Lars van der Haar followed at nine seconds. With one lap to go, Pidcock held a 17-second lead over Van der Haar and Eli Iserbyt, who had connected with the Dutchman. The Briton was no longer in trouble. Iserbyt, winner in Kortrijk in 2020, had to acknowledge his superior in Van der Haar just before the finish. The day before Mathieu van der Poel’s return to the field, Eli Iserbyt, Lars van der Haar, Michael Vanthourenhout and world champion Tom Pidcock were able to enjoy themselves again. And Thibau Nys also saw his chance, because he shot out of the starting blocks quickly and took the first round together with Van der Haar and Iserbyt. Pidcock and Vanthourenhout followed after one lap at four seconds. A piece of cake for the Briton, who closed the gap with the three leaders in no time. European champion Vanthourenhout also picked up. There were five leaders, but that wouldn’t last long. The pace was too high for promise Thibau Nys, who had to let the others drive. Pidcock’s engine completely cut out half way through that second lap and he got rid of his opponents. Van der Haar turned out to be a tough opponent in the pursuit, Iserbyt followed in third position. For a long time, the lead of the world champion fluctuated around eight to nine seconds, before finally diving into the penultimate round with a 12-second bonus on Lars van der Haar. The Dutchman had meanwhile been joined by Eli Iserbyt. The world champion did not weaken and entered the final round with a 17 count bonus. In the battle for second place, Iserbyt put Lars van der Haar under firm pressure, but the Dutchman got stuck in the wheel of the West Fleming. It came to a sprint for second place, which was missed by the camera. The Dutchman won that sprint, Iserbyt finished third. The third round of the X²O Bathroom Trophy, the GP Sven Nys, will be organized in Baal on New Year’s Day.

Fox is the most cunning

In the women’s race, it was also the world champion who can write the victory to her name. Marianne Vos has grabbed her first victory of the season. In the Nacht van Woerden, Vos was close to victory with a second place, but she had to wait until the cross in Kortrijk before she could celebrate. “This is very good,” she said on Saturday. Vos raced to a second place in Woerden, but was then unable to really make her mark on the competitions. In Merksplas she rode a strong first round, but then fell completely back and finished in a disappointing tenth place. She therefore also gave a forfait for the cross in Overijse. “This was a completely different game and I also had a better feeling in my legs this week,” she said. “I soon felt today that I was good and that a good result was in it. This was also a very fast race, because Betsema immediately pushed the pace up.” Vos did not fall back this time and continued to cross. In the last lap, her coach called for her to take over when she was alone with Alvarado in the lead, but Vos remained cunning in the wheel. “Did he yell that? Oh, I forgot,” she laughed. “I just knew I had to stay on Ceylin’s wheel. I knew she would try something on the last lap, but I bit into her wheel. In the end it came to a sprint and I was able to finish it. I was sure not from my sprint, because Ceylin is also fast. But I take the victory, in my world champion jersey. That is very gratifying.”