Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) continued his distinctive cyclocross performances this season and prolonged his profitable streak of six wins in six races after soloing to the victory at Actual Cross Loenhout – Azencross on Friday.
“It is all the time good to win, after all. It is a race that I all the time love to do, because it’s fairly near my residence, so it is a good ambiance,” Van der Poel stated.
It was a 1-2 end for Alpecin-Deceuninck as Gianni Vermeersch, who took his first cyclocross podium in 5 seasons, raced throughout the road in second place at 38 seconds again.
Within the dash for third simply behind Vermeersch, Filipe Orts Lloret (Teika-BH-GSport) outpaced Ryan Kamp (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) to take the final spot on the rostrum.
“It was an excellent day to be on the rostrum. I stayed within the final lap with Vermeersch and Kamp, and within the final lap, I might keep on the rostrum,” Orts Lloret stated. “I am pleased to do that for my household.”
The rain poured down over Actual Cross Loenhout – Azencross in Belgium, practically flooding sections of the course and creating lengthy stretches of deep puddles and dust alongside the circuit.
Lacking from the beginning have been Van der Poel’s shut opponents: Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).
A crash off the beginning line held up practically half the sector however didn’t seem to have an effect on the entrance row of starters.
Van der Poel led the opening laps of the race as a small group fashioned, however in an analogous technique to his victory at the day gone by’s Superprestige in Diegem, the world champion accelerated about midway by the race, leaving his rivals behind.
The riders that led the chase have been Orts, Kamp, together with Toon Vandebosch (Crelan-Corendon), Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Lander Loockx (TDT-Unibet) and Timon Rüegg (Swiss Racing Academy), with Vermeersch connecting with the entrance group on the third lap.
Van der Poel rode a flawless race as he orbited the muddy, technical circuit, opening a profitable margin of 38 seconds earlier than crossing the road along with his sixth victory of this cyclocross season.
It was the battle for second and third that heated up behind the world champion as Kamp, Orts and Vermeersch went head-to-head, reshuffling locations on the circuit over the remaining laps.
Vermeersch proved the strongest of the three, gaining a small hole on his solution to the end line to safe second place, leaving third all the way down to a dash gained by Orts.
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