Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Trek Lions) secured his second World Cup victory of the season after outsprinting Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) for the win in the rain-soaked round in Dublin, Ireland.
After 57 minutes of relentless chasing, overall World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) was forced to settle for third place.
The race came down to the three riders after Ronhaar led the race alone for much of the second half, forcing Iserbyt and Sweeck to close the small gap.
Ronhaar, 22, proved strongest on the muddy course and tactically superior, especially through the final few hundred metres when Sweeck caught him.
The two riders barreled into the final corner, with Rohnaar making a last-ditch attack onto the pavement before sprinting to the victory.
"At the beginning, I thought Thibau [Nys] was going to win the race easily. It was a really hard race," Rohnaar said of his teammate who led the opening laps.
"I was always in third or fourth position. Last year, I did the same, and that was the best for this course because it was so compact for the first half. With two or three laps to the end, I got a gap and gave it my all. I felt so good. The sandpit wasn't my thing, but I did well on the last lap.
"Laurens passed me in the last 500 metres, and I thought, 'ah shit, am I not going to win this race.' I was waiting for the right moment, and when I went, I was so strong, looked back, and he was nowhere, so it's a nice feeling to win like this."
Iserbyt, who was almost caught at the line by fourth-place Joran Wyseure (Creland-Corendon), managed to hold on for third place and kept the lead in the World Cup series.
"It was tiring. It was a hard race for me, and in the deep mud, I had a disadvantage. I kept pushing hard, and it's a podium for me, and I think that's the most that was in me today," Iserbyt said.
"I felt empty on the last lap; my sand section didn't go, and I had to fight for the third place because the fourth rider was close. I was happy that it was the finish."
How it unfolded
The event marked the fifth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, which has seen four different winners: Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) in Waterloo, Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) in Maasmechelen, Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Trek Lions) in Dendermonde and Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) in Troyes, with the latter leading the overall standings because of his consistent top performances.
Rain poured down during the elite women's race, won by Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions), and continued into the start of the elite men's race, with a course slick with mud under the cool and wet weather conditions.
A smaller field of 28 riders lined up with Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) taking the holeshot off of the start line and onto the circuit, followed by Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal teammates Ryan Kamp and Eli Iserbyt with US rider Scott Funston among the front group of roughly 12 riders.
Nys was the strongest on the first ride through the sandpit, as many other riders chose to run, and he moved into the lead, followed by Vandeputte as Iserbyt crashed through a corner and was passed by Toon Vandebosch (Crelan-Corendon).
Together at the front, Nys and Vandebosch opened a small gap heading into the second lap, but Nys showed impeccable skill hurdling the barriers and gaining a few valuable seconds over his rival, who seemed to struggle through slippery mud.
Iserbyt almost closed the gap to Nys partway through the second lap but lost ground and ended up surrounded by a larger group with Ronhaar, Sweeck, Vandebosch, Wyseure, Jens Adams, Kevin Kuhn (Circus-Reuz-Technord), Witse Meeusen (Creland-Corendon) and Kamp.
Nys built his lead out to three seconds, and while it wasn't a dominant gap, it forced Iserbyt to expend his energy in an almost continuous chase from behind.
Iserbyt managed to close the gap to Nys partway through the fourth lap, but Rohnaar was on his wheel, giving Baloise Trek Lions the advantage in numbers. Sweeck, Wyseure and Adams soon joined the trio for a front group of six riders.
Wyseure powered through the thick mud and pulled away from the group, gaining a slight lead as Adams bridged across, but the move only led to a counterattack from Rohnaar.
He carried a three-second lead over Iserbyt into the penultimate lap and nine seconds over Sweeck, but the two chasers closed the gap before the bell rang.
The strongest of the day, Rohnaar found the extra little bit of speed to go solo as his two rivals struggled to keep the pace. As Iserbyt faded into third, Sweeck made a last-lap push and caught Rohnaar on a steep run-up in the last few hundred metres of the course.
He then passed Rohnaar in a bid to secure his first World Cup win of the season. However, he wasn't strong enough to distance Rohnaar, who then jumped through the last corner onto the pavement and sprinted for the win.
Results
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