Sweeck triumphs in Merksplas after a lightning-fast race

In Merksplas, Laurens Sweeck took his second consecutive win in the Telenet Superprestige. In a fast and tactical cyclo-cross race, he took off on the final lap. The Belgian from the Crelan-Corendon team held off Toon Aerts and Lars van der Haar.

Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was first into the field, with Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) on his wheel. Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-Maes) and Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) had slower starts, leaving them to chase immediately.

Vandeputte held the lead during the initial laps, but as the pace slowed, several pursuers managed to join him at the front. Numerous riders came to test their legs at the head of the race, but no one succeeded in creating a significant gap.

On lap six, Michael Vanthourenhout produced another burst of speed. His teammate Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) allowed a gap to form, forcing Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) to respond. Behind Nys, Felipe Orts (Ridley Racing team) had gear issues, leaving a gap after position five.

Despite this, the group reunited once again. Toon Aerts pushed hard for two consecutive laps, but he too was unable to make the difference. The focus switched to Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) as everyone waited for him to make his move. Having bided his time throughout the race, the Belgian launched his attack with one lap to go. He was first into the sandpit and successfully defended his lead of a few metres.

Sweeck crossed the line first ahead of Toon Aerts. Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) finished third after his teammate Thibau Nys held back for a moment. The Dutchman was thus able to secure an extra point for the general classification, putting him in shared first place with Niels Vandeputte.