Michael Vanthourenhout triumphs in thrilling final lap in Dublin, Nys crashes hard in first lap

Michael Vanthourenhout triumphed in the World Cup cross in Dublin. After a thrilling cross, the former European champion was the strongest, and Toon Aerts and Felipe Orts were defeated. The cyclo-cross was overshadowed by a heavy crash in the first lap, where Thibau Nys was the biggest victim.

Last year, Pim Ronhaar took his second World Cup of the season in Ireland. He was back at it again this year, but the competition was tough. Anyway, it would be a very different cross: it certainly wasn't as muddy as the last edition. The sun was shining, although there was quite a bit of wind. Eli Iserbyt led the World Cup classification after winning Antwerp: he determinedly dealt with his rivals.

Toon Aerts took the lead from the start. The Belgian could finally start at the front again and was only too happy to use it. However, he did not want to be entirely in the lead, so he gave the command to Czech Michael Boros. Boros was not used to that: he crashed on the barriers and landed awkwardly. His bike knocked over Felipe Orts, and Nys crashed hard into the Czech champion. He stayed down and suffered injuries to his ankle. Things were clearly wrong for the European champion.

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Vanthourenhout changes shoes

In the chaos after the crash, Ronhaar, Michael Vanthourenhout, and Jordan Wyseure took over the lead, but everything was still together. Of course, Nys was effectively eliminated: he miraculously stepped on the bike again, but after one lap, his gap was already over a minute and a half. His teammates Ronhaar and Lars van der Haar continued competing at the front. Vanthourenhout took the lead and pushed through but hit a pole and ruptured his shoe. He could still ride on, but it was an issue. In lap four, he had to go to the pit area to change his shoe. He didn't lose much by doing so.

Halfway through, it was still an open race: a dozen racers were still together. The men from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal took the lead and wanted to forge a devious plan, but Wyseure didn't buy it and went past Iserbyt to keep Vanthourenhout from riding. It did create a shuffle: six riders rode away from the rest. Orts, Aerts, Iserbyt, Wyseure, Vanthourenhout, and Ronhaar, seemed the strongest. Sweeck also wanted to go for it but already had a big gap to close.

Nys abandons the race, Van der Haar returns in final phase

With three laps to go, Nys was already more than two minutes behind: he called it quits and abandoned the race. At the front, classification leader Iserbyt took the initiative and increased the pace. Aerts also felt like it, while Ronhaar, after a lot of work in the first part of the race, was now at the back of the group. Suddenly, there was Van der Haar. As often happens, the Dutch rider caught up nicely and closed in on the final lap. However, he didn't dare jump over the barriers and lost time again.

The race remained tense and seemed to end in a six-man sprint. Iserbyt retained the lead on the final lap, with Wyseure on his wheel. Meanwhile, it was raining, which made things more difficult. Aerts then passed Wyseure and took second place. Together, they were clearly the strongest of the day. A mistake by Iserbyt suddenly caused a lot of chaos: Vanthourenhout took the lead, with Aerts in second place. But the former European champion pulled ahead at full speed and crossed the line victorious. Just behind him, Aerts sprinted ahead of Felipe Orts to second place.

Read also

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