Iserbyt manages to get under Van der Haar's skin in Herentals despite nerve pain

It was the clash in the battle in Herentals: Lars van der Haar versus Eli Iserbyt regarding the overall ranking of the X2O Trophy. The Dutch rider was two seconds ahead of his Belgian opponent, but in the end, the Belgian prevailed as the overall leader.

Iserbyt knew what to do on the first lap, where bonus seconds were up for grabs at the first crossing. Toon Aerts, who later had a flat, took off like a rocket and grabbed the maximum reward, while Iserbyt managed to pick up ten seconds. With that, he took over the lead from Van der Haar, who rode in the Belgian's wheel for a long time. In the end, the Baloise Trek Lions rider reached his limit, finishing over half a minute behind his opponent.

And that is how Iserbyt, who saw teammate Michael Vanthourenhout win, turned his deficit into a lead despite nerve pain in his back, partly due to a nasty crash. "I wasn't focused on that race because my left leg was bothering me a lot due to that nerve pain. That's something I've been struggling with for the last three years. I tried to solve that, but it didn't succeed," he told IDLProCycling.com afterward.

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Iserbyt elaborates on nerve pain

"So those two climbs of the Skiberg were very tricky because I tried to put most of the pressure on my right leg. It was part of the crash because I lost concentration a little bit," Iserbyt said, explaining his nerve pain. "It's something that comes and goes. It started three years ago, and I have it under control, but sometimes it pops up again. That was the case now. It involves the nerve from the back to the left leg, so going at full speed is difficult."

Overall, Iserbyt has little to complain about, putting himself as the X2O leader and Vanthourenhout as the winner in Herentals. "That's super. It was a little less initially because I couldn't do anything for about 10 days in September due to a mouth infection. But it's good that we are now winning the last four races, which is phenomenal."

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