Laurens Sweeck reigns supreme in Niel after a great solo

Laurens Sweeck has won the Jaarmarktcross in Niel. The Belgian won after a great solo ahead of the Spaniard Felipe Orts and Niels Vandeputte.

Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) was the first to head into the field, with Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) on his wheel. Sweeck immediately pushed on hard, and a leading group quickly formed, including Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal), Felipe Orts Lloret (Ridley Racing Team) and Emiel Verstrynge (Crelan-Corendon).

At the end of the first lap, Sweeck had a lead of five seconds over Vandeputte, who became the driving force in the chase. Iserbyt, Orts and Verstrynge followed in his wake. Vandeputte tried to close the gap on Sweeck, but the latter kept pushing on solidly. Iserbyt then looked to take the lead in the chase, but a crash threw a spanner in the works. The Belgian champion was able to recover quickly and returned to the chasing group together with his teammate Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwel Sauzen - Bingoal).

Halfway through the race, Sweeck extended his lead further to 12 seconds, while Vandeputte, Iserbyt, Vanthourenhout and Orts kept fighting for second place. The sandy sections proved to be quite a feat for Sweeck, who continued to increase his lead. The battle in the chasing group became increasingly fierce. Felipe Orts’ impressive acceleration on the final lap forced Iserbyt to relinquish his place. The Spaniard thus finished second behind Sweeck. Niels Vandeputte completed the podium.