Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) claimed a sprint victory in the eighth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Dendermonde, out-pacing Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and series leader Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon).
In the absence of Mathieu van der Poel, who sat out the race, the short loop was fast and the gaps were small. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a BIke), looking to take his first win of the year, was unable to contest for the victory despite a late attack, and settled for sixth.
The battle for the podium came down to the closing two laps. After sitting further down in the top 10 for most of the race, Sweeck charged into the lead at the start of lap 11 of 12.
The World Cup leader expertly fended off attempts to pass by Nys, but couldn't stop the Belgian champion from diving into the lead in the closing moments of the race. Del Grosso out-paced Sweeck in the sprint but could not come past Nys.
"I'm super happy with the way I'm winning it today," Nys said. "It's been a long time since I could finish it off like this.
"It was always my kind of skill to finish off a race like this in the last lap, doing the right things, but I started to lose a bit of this quality in the last couple of years, and it feels really, really nice to finish it off in this way - it's been my signature move in the past.
"I tried a couple of times to put some pressure on, but it was so difficult to make a difference.
"But I felt super, super strong, and I felt in control. I think it was one of the strongest days of the season for me."
Del Grosso was content to finish second after suffering a late puncture and having to chase back.
"I really hoped I could compete for the win, and it was a tricky race with how fast it was but I had an unfortunate flat. I was quite happy I could come back into the race for the win. You needed everything on the last lap and Thibau had more."
For his part, Sweeck was happy to be able to maintain his lead in the World Cup and extend his advantage from one point over Van der Poel to three points now over Nys.
"In the end, I tried to take the victory, but I was not good enough," Sweeck said.
"I was already two laps on the head (of the race), so I knew I just need to stay in the front to take the highest place possible."
How it unfolded
The sun was out but the course was still hard and frozen, making for a wickedly fast race and a large group of riders together for most of the race in Dendermonde.
Van Aert was not confident of his chances before the race as the conditions were vastly different to last January when he won in muddy conditions.
"I prefer a mud-filled race with long running sections, but today will be completely different," he said pre-race. "Because of the freezing weather, the course is completely dry and it rolls well, as there's some frost in the ground."
Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was quickest off the start and led with Ryan Kamp and Felipe Orts in the opening lap.
The Spanish champion Orts was the first to attack to break up the race, going clear at the start of lap 3 and causing a massive reshuffling as the stronger riders sensed the danger.
Nys closed down Orts' attack on lap 4. With all eyes on Van Aert, the fans had to wait until lap 8 before the man in yellow emerged at the front.
Van Aert surged to the lead at the start of the lap, and remained in contention for the win until the penultimate lap when a lull in the pace allowed Sweeck to move up from sixth into the lead.
Nys was attentive to the series leader's surge and slotted onto his wheel, all the while looking for opportunities to pass. Sweeck could sense the pressure and tried to stifle his momentum with a few strategic hesitations, but Nys made a crafty move in a technical section midway into the final lap to take the win.
Results
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