Mathieu van der Poel wins Brussels Universities Cyclocross

By published

Eli Iserbyt second and Corne van Kessel third

Mathieu van der Poel
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won the Brussels Universities Cyclocross on Sunday. The world champion soloed to victory ahead of a trio who battled for second place with Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) taking second, Corne van Kessel (Telenet Baloise Lions) in third, and Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Bingoal) in fourth.

Iserbyt leads the DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series with just one race to go at the Krawatencross in Lille, France, held on February 8.

Some of the favourites such as Toon Aerts, Laurens Sweeck, Wout van Aert and Quinten Hermans sat out this round of the series in favour of resting ahead of the Belgian Championships next weekend.

Vanthourenhout had a strong start and led the opening lap, closely followed by Van der Poel and Van Kessel. By the third lap, Iserbyt and Tim Merlier moved through the field and caught up to the chase group.

Van der Poel made his winning attack midway through the eight-lap race and built his lead out to 30 seconds as he crossed the line with the victory. 

Iserbyt, Van Kessel and Vanthourenhout locked into a battle for second place through the final lap. Iserbyt crossed the finish line 30 seconds after Van der Poel and claimed second place. Van Kessel finished eight seconds later in third place and Vanthourenhout finished an additional four seconds back in fourth.

Results
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 1:01:23
2Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal 0:00:30
3Corne Van Kessel (Ned) 0:00:38
4Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal 0:00:42
5Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal 0:01:29
6Tom Meeusen (Bel) 0:01:43
7Tim Merlier (Bel) Creafin – Fristads 0:01:56
8Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Creafin – Fristads 0:02:05
9Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Baloise Lions 0:02:16
10Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Group Hens - Maes Containers 0:02:46
11Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale Cyclocrossworld 0:02:57
12Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Baloise Lions 0:03:22
13Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Baloise Lions 0:03:36
14Yannick Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal 0:03:54
15Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Baloise Lions 0:04:30
16Sieben Wouters (Ned) 0:05:31
17Curtis White (USA) Cannondale Cyclocrossworld 0:06:23
18Thomas Verheyen (Bel) 0:07:45
19Edwin De Wit (Bel)
20Max Judelson (USA)
21Brannan Fix (USA)
22Julien Roussel (Fra)
23Yelle Leaerts (Bel)
24Gianni Quintelier (Bel)
25Gauthier Heymes (Fra)

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Kirsten Frattini

Kirsten Frattini is an honours graduate of Kinesiology and Health Science from York University in Toronto, Canada. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's WorldTour. She has worked in both print and digital publishing, and started with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. Moving into a Production Editor's role in 2014, she produces and publishes international race coverage for all men's and women's races including Spring Classics, Grand Tours, World Championships and Olympic Games, and writes and edits news and features. As the Women's Editor at Cyclingnews, Kirsten also coordinates and oversees the global coverage of races, news, features and podcasts about women's professional cycling.

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