Iserbyt wins in Overijse after a thrilling final

In a wet and slippery Overijse, the elite men rode their fifth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup today. After seven exhausting rounds, it was Eli Iserbyt who was able to break away in the final lap and proved himself the strongest in the mother of all crosses, the Druivencross in Overijse.

At the start of the race, Quinten Hermans (Tormans Cyclo Cross Team) was at the front of the race as usual. In lap 2, he completely succeeded in riding away from the chasing group. Only Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), leader in the general classification, and his teammate Michael Vanthourenhout were able to hold on.

The trio continued strongly but at the back Toon Aerts (Baloise Trek Lions) was having a great day. He broke away from the chasing group and went solo in search of the men in front. Soon he was able to join Hermans, who had to let the Iserbyt-Vanthourenhout duo pass after his first of many slips on the course.

Aerts was finally able to cross on lap 5 and teammate of the duo Laurens Sweeck also jumped on the wagon. All that male testosterone made for a quartet that had to endure many attacks. After an unsuccessful attack by Toon Aerts, Iserbyt accelerated to victory on the last lap. This way he strengthened his leading position in the general classification. Vanthourenhout finished second, followed by an exhausted Toon Aerts.