Michael Vanthourenhout wins thrilling World Cup cyclocross in Sardinia

Michael Vanthourenhout won the Cyclo-cross World Cup in Sicily. The Belgian secured victory in a soaking wet race that remained exciting until the final lap, finishing ahead of Joris Nieuwenhuis and Laurens Sweeck. 

After Lucinda Brand's win in the women's race, it was time for the men to start their World Cup round in Terralba. Although Thibau Nys, Lars van der Haar, Cameron Mason and Toon Aerts all withdrew from the race in Italy, the organizers could still count on a strong field including Joris Nieuwenhuis, Michael Vanthourenhout, Niels Vandeputte, Laurens Sweeck and Pim Ronhaar.

As has often been the case this season, the men were very evenly matched, which only added to the racing excitement in Terralba. In the opening phase, we saw Nieuwenhuis ride aggressively in the sand, immediately putting pressure on the rest of the field. However, the Dutchman soon saw a group of about six riders catch up, led by Vandeputte and later joined by Vandebosch, Vanthourenhout, Sweeck and Ronhaar.

Excitement until the final lap
Midway through the race, several more riders bridged across. Cyclo-crossers like Joran Wyseure, Ryan Kamp, Mees Hendrikx, Wietse Meeusen and even the young Italian Filippo Agostinacchio were able to keep up well for forty minutes of racing despite some crashes. Vanthourenhout and Nieuwenhuis appeared to be the strongest, but they couldn’t really express their power difference by creating a gap.

So it all came down to the last lap. In that final lap, Vanthourenhout finally managed to force a gap. Sapping their strength, Nieuwenhuis, Sweeck, Vandeputte and Ronhaar still managed to stay close to the Belgian, who just before the sprint succeeded in opening a decisive gap. Nieuwenhuis tried in the final meters to close the gap with Vanthourenhout, but it was already too large.

🇮🇹 🚵 | Wat een mooie en spannende cross schotelen de mannen ons voor. Het is Michael Vanthourenhout met het sterkste eindschot op Sardinie. 👏🇧🇪

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