After Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado with the women, Laurens Sweeck won the Jaarmarktcross in Niel with the elite men on Monday afternoon. The Belgian of Crelan-Corendon proved once again to be the undisputed master of the sand, putting pressure on his closest pursuers every lap and eventually breaking away.
The 30-year-old Sweeck had not often been seen at the front in the big races this season. Although he won in Essen, he finished nineteenth in Ruddervoorde, fifteenth in Overijse, and ninth at the European Championships. However, when some top riders are not competing, Sweeck is also the first to jump at the opportunity. Without European champion Thibau Nys at the start, this was his chance.
Sweeck took the initiative from the first lap, with the men behind him dropping out one by one.
Niels Vandeputte seemed to hold out the longest, but even he was no match for Sweeck's skills in the mud and sand. Vandeputte was eventually caught by
Eli Iserbyt,
who flew over his handlebars early in the race.
Read more below the video
Sweeck wins with ease
Because Toon Aerts and
Lars van der Haar missed their starts and Joran Wyseure had to deal with bad luck, the selection was made halfway through the race.
Felipe Orts, the surprising number two at the European Championship, was riding around in spot four, and Michael Vanthourenhout in spot five. However, the positions behind Sweeck were redistributed during the closing laps. Iserbyt rode away from Vandeputte for spot two while Orts still wanted to claim bronze. Van der Haar was past Vanthourenhout after catching up with him.
So we seemed to be steadily moving up to the finish line, but that was beyond Orts. Iserbyt did not have a very good final lap and was suddenly surprised by the Spaniard and Vandeputte. He got away from his Belgian competitor, and even Sweeck came in sight in the final phase. That attack came too late. Sweeck maintained eight seconds ahead of Orts in the rain, with Vandeputte at sixteen seconds in third place. Iserbyt and Van der Haar completed the top five.
Results Superprestige Jaarmarktcross Niel 2024 - elite men