Lander Loockx wins men's OZ Cross in sprint against Ruegg in Fayetteville

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Lander Loockx (Deschacht - Hens - Maes) used a final acceleration to out-kick Timon Rüegg (Cross Team Legendre / Vc Steinmaur) and win the elite men’s C1 OZ Cross race in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The final surge allowed the Belgian rider to score the second C1 victory of his career.

The Belgian-Swiss duo created a 25-second advantage on a trailing group of four, from which Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) exploded across the finish line to take the final podium spot.

“It was quite fast. The first laps were very tactical.  I was always in second or third position,  just being in the front because I know after some laps we’ll get some gaps,” Loockx said. “There were some mistakes from other riders after me, and with Timon Ruëgg we got a gap. And we did work well together.

“On the last lap, we fight with each other. On the uphill I tried to drop him, but he keeps holding on, so I had to do it in the sprint.”

On the first pass of the towering stairs feature at Centennial Park, Remi Lelandais (Cross Team Legendre) led the 42-rider field across the top. The 10-lap race was full of dust and speed, only 25 reaching the finish line.

It took a few laps for a front group to form, battling the strong wind and the enormous ascent of the stairs. Nine riders were strung out headed to the half-way point, led by Loockx, Michael Boros (Elkov Kasper Czech Cycling Team), and Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Then Pan American and US National Champion Eric Brunner (Blue Competition Cycles p/b Build) opened up a small gap on the front. Brunner's move did not stick, but the next attack did, made by the Rüegg-Loockx duo.

From a chasing group of four riders, White jumped early in the headwind after the Stonehenge feature and grabbed third place. 

“It was very hot, it was very windy, it's a very fast track, and it was gonna be a lot of tactics involved. So I wanted to be near the front, but not on the front, to watch the wheels and to really save as much energy as I could for the final lap,” White said.

“We were coming into a strong headwind in the start-finish straight. I just started my sprint earlier than I think everyone expected. And I wanted to come into that with a little bit of a gap. And then with the second to last corner, I hit it as hard as I could. And there it created a bit of separation, perhaps they didn't expect me to go there. But that was the card I played.”

Following closest behind was Vandeputte in fourth, then Boros for fifth and Lelandais in sixth.

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