The Belgian Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen Bingola), with the title already secured, and the Dutch Fem Van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen Bingoal) achieved victories this Sunday in Flamanville (France), penultimate stage of the Cyclocross World Cup.
In the absence of the favorite Wout Van Aert, another Belgian, Toon Aerts (Baloise Trek Lions), won the sprint by getting to the first corner before anyone else, but Iserbyt, who was looking for his 30th career victory, was already in the lead in the second lap together with his compatriot and teammate Laurens Sweeck and Aerts himself.
Halfway through the test, the Dutchman Corne Van Kessel was the only rider non-Belgian in the top five. By lap three, Iserbyt already had an eight-second lead over Aerts and another Belgian, Michael Van Thourenhout, and from then on he only increased his lead, ending up winning by 59 seconds over Toon Aerts and 1:12 over Thourenhout. .
Felipe Orts, from Alicante, who had just won his fourth title as Spanish champion, qualified nineteenth, at 4:35 the winner, two places behind Kevin Suárez from Cantabria , who was the best Spanish, at 4:08. Starting from the fourth lap, the women’s race, 18.5 km in total, turned into a Dutch duel between Fem Van Empel and Puck Pieterse, two 19-year-old runners, chased by the Hungarian Blanka Vas .
Van Empel, who already won in Val di Sole in December, accelerated on the last lap and, despite his efforts to follow her, Pieterse had to resign herself to finishing second, for the fourth time this season.
The world champion, the Dutch Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek) did not participate. Lions), who had already secured the World Cup title as her closest rival in the general classification, her compatriot Denise Betsema, gave up this event, already focused on preparing for the Cyclo-Cross World Championship, which will be held in Fayetteville (Arkansas, USA) on January 29 and 30. Asturian Lucía González, champion of Spain, finished sixteenth, 4:18 behind the winner, and Aida Nuño, national runner-up, was twenty-third, at 6:04. The Copa del world of cyclocross will conclude on January 23 in Hoogerheide (Netherlands).
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