Iserbyt holds off Toon Aerts to win Superprestige Jaarmarktcross

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In a see-saw battle of the top men in the Superprestige Series, Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) outsprinted Toon Aerts (Baloise Trek Lions) to the line in Niel to win Jaarmarktcross.  

Quinten Hermans (Tormans-Circus Cyclo Cross Team) held on to the final podium spot, 22 seconds behind Iserbyt, after creating separation from Lars van der Haar (Balois Trek Lions) with one lap to go. Van der Haar crossed the line two second behind Hermans for fourth.

It was the ninth victory of the season and second consecutive Superprestige win for Iserbyt, who extended his series lead over Aerts.

Half-way through the mid-week contest it was clearly a battle of four riders, with Van der Haar and Aerts countering attacks at the front with Iserbyt and Hermans close behind, each man looking for another to make a mistake. On the next pass of the muddy runup, Van der Haar and Aerts would tumble to the ground and this allowed Iserbyt to charge ahead until Aerts closed down the gap in an off-camber section.

It was in the sand pit that Iserbyt clearly held a cleaner line, nailing his pass with two laps to go while Aerts had to unclip. Passing under the finish line with another lap to go Iserbyt held a six-second lead, but then suffered a puncture and had to make a bike change. This allowed Aerts to make the pass, but Aerts was able to grab his wheel. 

On a final pass of the big moguls of the course, Aerts powered ahead to gain valuable seconds and appeared to drop Iserbyt, until the sand section where Iserbyt would close the gap to Aerts and power to the front for the final sprint.