Joris Nieuwenhuis turns bad luck into commanding win at Superprestige Merksplas

Joris Nieuwenhuis secured his third victory of the current cyclocross season. After previously winning the Exact Cross Heerderstrand and X2o Trophy Lokeren, the Dutchman was now the best in the Superprestige Merksplas. Despite some misfortune, he convincingly held off Niels Vandeputte and Emiel Verstrynge. Vandeputte took over the lead in the Superprestige from Michael Vanthourenhout.

The organizers of the Aardbeiencross could count on a strong field. Thibau Nys, who had skipped the race in Niel, was back in action. He faced off against Michael Vanthourenhout, Laurens Sweeck, Niels Vandeputte, Joran Wyseure, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Pim Ronhaar, and European champion Toon Aerts, among others. It promised to be an exciting battle.

Small gaps, Nieuwenhuis’s bad luck
Joran Wyseure got off to the best start but was quickly overtaken by Pim Ronhaar, who in turn was passed by Danny van Lierop. The Dutch rider from ZZPR.nl-Orange Babies set the pace in the opening minutes. Ronhaar then moved back to the front to put pressure on the competition. Riders like Aerts and Sweeck were quite far behind. That was not the case for Nys, who in the second half of the opening lap took over from his teammate Ronhaar. More splits began to form.

In the second of nine laps, a gap also appeared when Nieuwenhuis slipped. The Dutchman quickly remounted but broke the closure on his right shoe during the fall. A little later, his chain also dropped off. Nieuwenhuis thus fell out of the leading group of nine, which had a small lead over the rest of the pack. Superprestige leader Vanthourenhout, defending winner Sweeck, and local rider Aerts were the biggest names trailing behind. However, the gaps remained limited.

From five to six leaders
Cameron Mason was up front. The Brit put the hammer down in the third lap, causing the group to split again. A lap later, the real separation took place. Mason led with four Belgians: Nys, Vandeputte, Emiel Verstrynge, and Jente Michels. Ten seconds behind came a group with Ronhaar, Nieuwenhuis, Toon Vandebosch, and Felipe Orts. Behind them, Vanthourenhout and Lars van der Haar were still somewhat mixed in, but Sweeck and Aerts seemed out of contention by then.

In lap five, the lead group grew from five to six riders. Nieuwenhuis – still with a broken boa closure – rode straight up to the front. In the chasing group, Ronhaar took charge with his returning teammate Van der Haar in tow. Up front, Nys struggled. After getting stuck in the sand, he had to let the others go for a moment. He caught back up but had to change bikes. At that very moment, Nieuwenhuis accelerated.

Nys falters in the sand, Nieuwenhuis soloes to victory
The Dutch rider tried to wear down the opposition and seemed to succeed in the seventh lap as he opened a nice gap. In the eighth lap, the penultimate lap of the race, Nys found his rhythm again. The Belgian champion pushed on and came closer again together with Verstrynge. But with an impressive sand section, Nieuwenhuis extended his lead once more. Nys completely stalled again here. He was even overtaken by Vandeputte and Michels, who joined up again with Verstrynge.

Nieuwenhuis kept pushing hard. His victory was no longer under threat. Vandeputte, Michels, and Verstrynge battled for second place. It was Vandeputte who handled the sandy section best and took second. He would also take over the Superprestige leader’s jersey from Michael Vanthourenhout. Verstrynge finished third on the day, Michels came fourth. And fifth? It wasn’t Nys, who dropped back to seventh due to a flat tire. Mason (fifth) and Van der Haar (sixth) crossed the line ahead of him.