Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) ran away with the victory at Superprestige Gullegem on Saturday for his seventh win of the season. He created the decisive separation from Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) with three laps to go and gained handily by 21 seconds.
Michael Vanthourenhout made it a pair of Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal riders on the rostrum with a third-place end, 41 seconds again.
Because the penultimate spherical of the Superprestige, Dutch champion Lars van der Haar entered the day with a seven-point benefit over Vanthourenhout, the European Champion, within the total standings, with Iserbyt 9 factors again. The standings would tighten by solely a single level on the finish, as Van der Haar crossed the road in Gullegem in fourth place.
Van Aert started the race behind a five-rider lead group of traditional suspects, and rode aggressively within the center laps to drop the challengers one after the other. Absent from the sector was Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who was anticipated to return to the fray on Sunday for World Cup Zonhoven on Sunday.
“I believe the final two weeks went very well, a few good victories, particularly at Superprestige just like the race in Diegem it was arduous for me to win it. Right here in Gullegem it’s my first time I can win this race with the brand new organisation and I’m actually proud of it,” Van Aert stated on the end.
Van der Haar took management on the entrance of the sector on the primary zigzag corners and mini pump-track limitations to open the race. The rain and wind had elevated since earlier races and the sector unfold out rapidly because of the deteriorating, slippery circumstances.
Throughout the sand for the primary time, a lead group shaped behind of Van der Haar with Iserbyt, Vanthourenhout, Felipe Orts Lloret (Teika-BH-GSport) and Van Aert, biding his time. The chase group led by Kevin Kuhn (Tormans Cyclo Cross Staff), Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Curtis White (Steve Tilford Basis) trailing by a number of seconds in sixth.
To start out the third lap, Van Aert made an enormous cross of the 4 riders in entrance of him on the pavement however didn’t shake his companions. On a decent 180-degree nook earlier than the sand, Van Aert’s pedal hit a banner stake and the error allowed European Champion to steal to the entrance. Vanthourenhout couldn’t get away, as Van Aert, Iserbyt and Van der Haar stayed intact on the entrance. Orts Lloret rode in fifth solo, 20 seconds again.
On the fourth lap, Van der Haar started to lose floor from the trio, driving slightly below 10 seconds again, and one lap later Iserbyt trailed by only a few seconds in solo third however saved Van Aert and Vanthourenhout in sight and labored again to Vanthourenhout’s wheel.
It was within the sand pit on the fifth lap that Van Aert hit the fuel and Vanthourenhout appeared to wrestle, exiting nicely behind Iserbyt. He later stated it was a mechanical that slowed his progress. The tone of the moist race had modified.
Whereas the wind abated on the ultimate laps, the driving tempo of Van Aert didn’t calm down because the Belgian champion picked up a handful of seconds on every of the ultimate laps over Iserbyt to safe his third consecutive victory within the Superprestige collection.
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