Sweeck loses saddle during Boom Superprestige

Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels sauzen – Vastgoedservice) found himself without a saddle on his bike during the second round of the Telenet Superprestige in Boom after his seatpost came loose midway through the race.

There was no time for the 24-year-old to go back and get it and he had to complete the lap he was on before he could get into the pits and collect a new bike. Thankfully, he didn't have too far to go to make it back to the pits.

Sweeck had been in a four-man chasing group that was tracking down the solo Mathieu van der Poel on lap four of the nine-lap race. Van der Poel had gone clear earlier in the lap and the chasers were only a few seconds behind as they navigated two jumps in the latter part of the lap.

Sweeck was the first across and was about to enter the sandpit ahead when he looked down, noticing that something was awry with his bike. It didn’t become apparent to viewers what had happened until Sweeck stood up on his pedals and his seatpost and saddle fell onto the ground below, bouncing a couple of times before it came to a rest in the sand.

Unable to sit down any more, Sweeck dismounted to get through the sand before climbing back on when he reached the grass on the other side. He only had a short distance to ride back to the pits but he had lost some crucial seconds due to the incident. He would eventually cross the line in fifth place, some 29 seconds behind the winner Van der Poel.