Winner of the GC also wins in Hoogerheide

In Hoogerheide Eli Iserbyt closed his World Cup season today like he began it a few months ago in Waterloo: with his arms in the air. After a particularly exciting race, the winner of the final classification in Hoogerheide won with a few seconds advantage on Van der Haar and Pidcock.

The elite men got off to a fast start in Hoogerheide for the final round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup this season. Quinten Hermans (Tormans Cyclo Cross Team) and Ryan Kamp (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) were the first to enter the field with a strong sprint.

The Hermans-Kamp duo was soon joined by European champion Van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) and on lap 2 Kamp had to let the two go. Van der Haar and Hermans were followed by Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and some other fast riders in lap 3.

On lap 4 Pidcock managed to cross the line to the front of the race and stayed there by himself. Right behind his wheel, Van der Haar caused a big crash. Especially the boys of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team had a hard time. Hermans lost his place at the front of the race and his teammate Corné Van Kessel had to withdraw after mechanical failure.

Van der Haar was able to catch up with Iserbyt, who went solo in search of the slipstream of teammate Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal), who finished second, and Pidcock at the front of the race. The three men who were in pursuit of the British Pidcock found each other and continued pedalling hard until they reached the Brit.

The four of them dived into the last lap, where Iserbyt promptly took the lead and left the other three men behind. He eventually made it with a two second lead on Van der Haar. Pidcock crossed the finish line in third place. Iserbyt, who was certain of winning the World Cup two rounds ago, won his seventh of 15 races.

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