Superprestige Niel: Laurens Sweeck wins Monday mudfest

Laurens Sweeck dominated the mud
Laurens Sweeck dominated the mud (Image credit: Getty Images)

Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) swept to a solo win in the sand of Niel to score his second victory of the season at the third Superprestige round of 2024-25.

The Niel race was held on Monday, which was the Armistice Day public holiday in Belgium. 

Orts scored the best Superprestige result of his career in second place, while Vandeputte rounded out the podium at 16 seconds. Iserbyt finished fourth at 27 seconds and Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) was the final man home within a minute of Sweeck at 48 seconds.

"In the beginning, I didn’t really put pressure on it. I just tried to find a good rhythm, tackle the obstacles well and get into a flow," Sweeck said in the post-race interview, according to WielerFlits.

"That actually worked out pretty quickly. I didn't start doubting when it started raining, but you do start to get tired and then it becomes treacherous. The mistakes did creep in. It was good that it was only in the last lap.

"Yesterday I really suffered. Today too, of course, but it went a bit better. I didn't expect to be in the lead here from start to finish. It's difficult to ride in a group on this course, but this is a bit unexpected."

Sweeck hit the front of the race from the very start, much like women’s race winner Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado. He was pursued by a select group of top riders including Vanderputte, Iserbyt and Orts but never looked back.

Iserbyt had other ideas, however, leaving Vandeputte behind to venture off in pursuit on his own. He cut into Sweeck's lead, bringing the gap down to 15 seconds as the riders started lap seven of eight.

Sweeck’s advantage waned as the battle raged behind him. He wouldn’t be caught, though his lead did fall under 10 seconds as Orts pushed the pace to drop his rivals and claim his best top-level result of the season. 

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Dani Ostanek
Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.

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