Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) beat Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at the Exact Cross Essen, beating his countryman to the line after a tense closing duel.
The pair led the race on the final lap after breaking away from an elite lead group, with Vandeputte leading the way into the last section of the circuit. Around the final bend onto the finishing straight, Vandeputte slipped momentarily and didn't clip into his pedal quickly enough.
That gave the opportunity to 30-year-old Sweeck, who could come off the wheel on the final straight to speed around and sprint to the win, his first cyclocross triumph since the end of the 2022-23 season.
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Four seconds further back, Jens Adams (Lotto-X Oats-Athletes for Hope) grabbed third place to round out the podium. He beat another Belgian, Lander Loockx (TDT-Unibet) in the final dash to the line.
"I didn't expect to win here right away, because the rest already have some competition in their legs and I had to endure the race a bit," Sweeck said after his win, according to WielerFlits.
"I couldn’t really start better than this. I think I was a little bit lucky that Niels faltered in that last corner because in principle you can't catch up with Niels there as he's also fast.
"It was a bit nervous. The wind played a role in the longer stretches at the beginning of the circuit. There was always a bit of a jostling towards the forest. I was able to keep myself in a good position throughout the race.
"This is a very important victory for me because it has been a long time since I won."
The major separation in the race came in the third lap of 11 as Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP) pushed a high pace at the front. His acceleration split the front group to leave seven men in the lead.
Up there were Sweeck, Vandeputte, Adams, Loockx and Aerts as well as Corne van Kessel (Deschacht-Hens-FSP) and Toon Vandebosch (Crelan-Corendon).
The following lap saw a regrouping, however, as more riders made it across, leaving a large lead group at the head of the race at the midway point. On lap seven, the same seven rose to the front, though Aerts lost 20 seconds and was forced to chase after suffering a problem with his chain.
The final laps saw both Aerts and Ward Huybs (Baloise Trek Lions) making their way to the front, the pair getting there to make it eight up front on lap eight, setting up a grand finale.
That situation stuck into the final lap of the race, where all eight stood a chance of winning. At the front, it was Loockx and Huybs who kicked things off with high-pace efforts as Sweeck also attempted to push on.
In the end, Sweeck ended up provoking the winning split as he, along with Vandeputte, broke away at the front to fight a two-man contest for the race win. On his first start of the season, Sweeck came away with the glory, while Vandeputte, who finished third at the Exact Cross in Beringen last week, was forced to settle for another podium spot.
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