Sweeck masters Superprestige Merksplas to retain series lead

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Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) strengthened his Superprestige series lead for elite men with a masterful solo victory in Merksplas, Belgium on a cold Saturday. 

He held the lead throughout the entirety of the eight-lap contest, holding a five-second advantage across the finish over Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions). European Champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) finished third. 

2021 winner Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) finished fourth, with teammate Ryan Kamp in fifth. Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) placed sixth, one spot ahead of World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

"I was able to make a difference right from the start without really having to push. That worked in my favor the whole game,” Sweeck told Wielerflits about his second consecutive Superprestige win on Saturday. "There were small mistakes, not big ones."

The trio of Sweeck, Iserbyt and Vandeputte opened a small gap on the first lap smoothly surfing through the long sand pit, Van der Haar the closest in the chase. 

Falling off the pace right away were Vanthourenhout and Pidcock when Vanthourenhout fell onto the back wheel of Pidcock on a one of the short, twisty ditch section beyond the sand, with the British rider able to stay upright. 

Sweeck, with two World Cup wins already this year, had finished third at Merksplas the past two years. This time around, he rode with confidence at the front of the race and opened a gap of 11 seconds over Iserbyt and Vandeputte and Van der Haar. Pidcock rode in the second chase group, another 10 seconds back. 

There were a lot of moves on-and-off the bike in the muddy "Strawberry Cross" track by all the leaders, a classic ‘cross track in Belgium with varied terrain, bridges and the long sand section.

Pidcock changed bikes in pits on the third lap and on the next circuit had moved into fourth place. He said after the race that he picked a very challenging course for his return and did not have the smooth ride he wanted to contest for a podium finish.

“It was maybe not the best one to start with. In the corners, I was losing so much time,” said Pidcock, wearing the cyclocross rainbow stripes, covered in mud. “My level was OK, but I was losing time in a lot of places. Then I crashed, and then made a few too many mistakes. But I’m happy. It was not bad.”

Sweeck continued to hold his solo lead, Van der Haar holding his own with a 15-second deficit and barely keeping the leader in his sights. Vanthourenhout, Iserbyt, and Pidcock trailed, in that order, another 18 seconds as the race moved into the second half.

On the final circuit, Van der Haar and Iserbyt joined forces to try to close a 17-second gap to the lone leader, who showed no signs of faltering. Van der Haar was able to accelerate as Iserbyt suffered a few bobbles that created a gap he could not close back. But Sweeck charged cleanly through the sand yet again and used that time to hold off Van der Haar on the straightaway to the finish line.

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