Michael Vanthourenhout (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen) added a primary Belgian championship title to his palmares in an epic version in Loenhout. The European champion cemented his standing as top-mudder by using Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) off his wheel within the last lap.
Sweeck appeared to have the measure of Vanthourenhout however, within the heavy rain-soaked race, one small mix-up within the materials zone proved to be sufficient to swing the race in favour of the Bingoal rider in any case the opposite opponents had fallen behind.
In an incident-filled first lap, Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek) took the outlet shot in hopes of being a contender for his first elite nationwide title, pulling Sweeck and Vanthourenhout clear. Nonetheless, the son of the nice Sven Nys took a tumble within the opening minutes and located himself chasing in third the remainder of the race.
Eli Iserbyt (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen) additionally crashed within the first lap and took some time to choose himself up and will do no higher than fourth.
The race was then between Sweeck and Vanthourenhout, two of the highest mud-riders, because the skies opened up over Loenhout.
Barely seen amid the downpour, Sweeck and Vanthourenhout traded turns attacking on the mud-strewn course, with a crucial second approaching the penultimate lap when each riders got here into the pits for contemporary bikes. Vanthourenhout got here into the pit first and Sweeck, scorching on his heels, practically crashed into the discarded bike and the delay gave Vanthourenhout just a few seconds benefit.
The trouble price him, and though the Crelan-Fristads rider closed down the hole, Vanthourenhout opened it again up once more, notching out just a few metres on the climb. Sweeck settled for silver, whereas Nys, in his first elite championships, was thrilled to say bronze.