Cyclo-cross round-up: Kastelijn tops Superprestige standings after Gavere win, Van der Haar's consistency nets him men's lead

The men's and women's standings of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series are both being led by a single point following the conclusion of round 3 in Gavere, Belgium, on Sunday, which saw Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) take his second win of the series, while 777 rider Yara Kastelijn's victory also gave her the overall lead.

Iserbyt chose to skip the second round of the Superprestige in Boom last week in order to save himself for the next day's World Cup event in Bern, Switzerland, which the Belgian won. However, with the next round of the World Cup not happening until mid-November, Iserbyt was back and firing on all cylinders and again taking maximum points.

The overall leader going into Gavere, Quinten Hermans, must have fancied his chances of protecting his lead having won Saturday's cyclo-cross race in Beringen ahead of Telenet Baloise Lions teammate Toon Aerts and Britain's Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing), although Iserbyt again made the decision not to race there, and was again the freshest rider for Sunday's race when it mattered most.

Hermans could only finish eighth in Gavere, and lost the overall lead to another Telenet teammate, Lars Van der Haar, who was rewarded for his consistency over the three Superprestige rounds so far thanks to his fourth, fifth and second places, giving him the lead by one point over Hermans and a three-point lead over third-placed Corne Van Kessel – yet another Telenet Baloise Lions rider.

Iserbyt has moved back up to sixth in the standings, while Pidcock again rode well in his first full season with the elite men to take fourth place in Gavere, and is seventh overall, as well as leading the under-23 competition by default.

Kastelijn's victory in the women's race jumped her into the top spot from fourth at the start of the day, and the Dutchwoman now leads the winner of round 1 of the competition in Gieten, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Corendon-Circus), by a single point, with Italy's Eva Lechner (Creafin-Fristads) in third, a further three points back.

Previous series leader Sanne Cant (IKO-Crelan) finished well off the pace in 14th place in Gavere, more than three-and-a-half minutes down, which meant that the world champion took just two points, and has now dropped to fifth overall, a full 10 points behind new leader Kastelijn.