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After Mathieu van der Poel's dominance during his cyclo-cross campaign, post-Worlds it was his teammate Niels Vandeputte who claimed victory in the Exact Cross Maldegem on Wednesday.
Vandeputte got away with Joran Wyseure and Felipe Orts late in the race following a crash by Michael Vanthourenhout on the penultimate lap.
Orts' chances of taking the win came to an end on the final lap when he narrowly avoided crashing in the sand and had to expend energy to chase back to the two Belgians.
The weather was mild for the second to last race of the Exact Cross series in Maldegem. Kevin Kuhn took the hole shot but the race remained together for more than half the race.
Vanthourenhout and teammate Gerben Kuypers attacked on lap 6 but were chased down by Orts, who looked to be one of the strongest riders on the day.
The sand claimed Kuypers on the next lap, then Vanthourenhout late in the day, leaving Vandeputte, Wyseure and Orts at the front.
Wyseure led into the final lap but couldn't match Vandeputte when he poured on the pace, and had to settle for second.
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Joran Wyseure leads on the final lap (Image credit: Getty Images)
Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
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