Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) dominated the GP Leuven on Saturday, taking advantage of the absence of many of his rivals who had opted to travel to Tabor early for Sunday’s World Cup race.
Toon Aerts, Quinten Hermans, Eli Iserbyt and new European champion Lars van der Haar were all absent but Sweeck enjoyed victory in front of his local fans and then flew to Tabor with a morale-boosting victory in his pocket.
Sweeck, the 2020 Belgian national champion, struck out early on the muddy, technical course and rode away from his rivals, and then managed his lead with poise to win for a second consecutive year.
Veteran Belgian Tom Meeusen (Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes) used his experience to beat Spanish national champion Felipe Orts (Teika-BH-Gsport) and finish second, 17 seconds behind Sweeck, who celebrated by high-fiving the fans in the finish area.
Orts was in second place for much of the race but Meeusen managed to pass him in the finale with a spectacular jump across a ditch.
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal | 0:54:56 |
| 2 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) CX Team Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes | 0:00:17 |
| 3 | Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) | 0:00:27 |
| 4 | Daan Soete (Bel) CX Team Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes | 0:00:46 |
| 5 | Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin - Fenix | 0:00:57 |
| 6 | Joran Wyseure (Bel) Tormans Cyclo Cross Team | 0:01:02 |
| 7 | Lennert Belmans (Bel) Iko - Crelan | 0:01:11 |
| 8 | Lander Loockx (Bel) CX Team Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes | 0:01:28 |
| 9 | Gerben Kuypers (Bel) Proximus - Alphamotorhomes - Doltcini CT | 0:02:08 |
| 10 | Jarno Bellens (Bel) | 0:02:22 |
| 11 | Yentl Bekaert (Bel) Baloise Trek Lions | 0:02:36 |
| 12 | Sander De Vet (Bel) | 0:03:11 |
| 13 | Ward Huybs (Bel) Baloise Trek Lions | 0:03:26 |
| 14 | Rory Mcguire (GBr) | 0:03:32 |
| 15 | Wout Vervoort (Bel) | 0:03:39 |
| 16 | Mathijs Wuyts (Bel) | 0:03:50 |
| 17 | Arno van den Broeck (Bel) | 0:04:24 |
| 18 | Grégory Careme (Bel) | 0:04:28 |
| 19 | Lukas Vanderlinden (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal | 0:04:40 |
| 20 | Dolf Pemen (Bel) Proximus - Alphamotorhomes - Doltcini CT | 0:05:48 |
| 21 | Maarten Clauwaert (Bel) | 0:06:14 |
| 22 | Siebe Tormans (Bel) | |
| 23 | Jens Clynhens (Bel) | |
| 24 | Twan van der Drift (Ned) | |
| 25 | Raphaël Kockelmann (Lux) | |
| 26 | Simon Wyllie (GBr) | |
| 27 | Lukas van der Vleuten (Ned) | |
| 28 | Yelle Leaerts (Bel) | |
| 29 | Stef Janse (Bel) | |
| 30 | Robbe Mellaerts (Bel) | |
| 31 | Rune Ceusters (Bel) | |
| DNF | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) CX Team Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes | |
| DNF | Thijs Aerts (Bel) Baloise Trek Lions | |
| DNF | Len Dejonghe (Bel) CX Team Deschacht-Group Hens-Containers Maes | |
| DNF | Julian Siemons (Bel) | |
| DNF | Marco Ehlert (Ned) | |
| DNF | Dylan Strik (Ned) |
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