Laurens Sweeck wins men's Superprestige Middelkerke

Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) took a solo victory at the final round of the Telenet Superprestige in Middelkerke, sealing the series overall victory in the process.

The Belgian champion beat Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions) into second place by 15 seconds, while Sweeck's teammate Eli Iserbyt took third, 22 second down. Sweeck's win came after nine laps of racing having jumped clear of a seven-man leading group. He quickly built up a sizeable gap as Telenet Baloise Lions mounted the chase. 

Despite their best efforts on behalf of Lars van der Haar, who lay third overall, it wasn't to be, and Sweeck rode untroubled into the distance to cap a flawless ride.

Sweeck formed part of the lead group on lap 1, along with teammate and brother Diether, Lars van der Haar (Telenet Baloise Lions), Quinten Hermans (Circus-Wanty Gobert-Tormans), plus Iserbyt and Aerts.

On the next lap it was down to five men as Diether Sweeck dropped back, but a surging Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing) soon bridged across to the group. Pauwels Sauzen quickly gained another member at the front, though, as Michael Vanthourenhout made it across.

Hermans lead the way for much of laps 2 and 3, setting the pace as the sole representative of his Circus team. Lap 4 saw Pidcock push on, stretching out the group, though the elastic didn't snap behind.

Soon afterwards, heading through a small sand section, Sweeck seized the mantle, turning on the pace to blast clear of his companions. Initially gaining a small gap, the 26-year-old swiftly moved even further clear, pulling out a 13-second advantage by the end of the lap. 

Back in the chase group, Hermans lost ground as the Telenet duo of van der Haar and Iserbyt drove thet pace. Pidcock also dropped away, seemingly suffering a mechanical ailment.

Pauwels Sauzen, not wishing to try and chase down their teammate as he fought for overall victory, sat behind the Telenet duo in the four-man chase group, and as a result Sweeck's lead only increased over the following laps.

By lap 7, he was 17 seconds up the road, and at the start of the penultimate lap 8, he was 28 seconds clear. Iserbyt and Aerts pushed on from the chase group, but at that point, the race and overall was virtually in the bag for Sweeck.

He eased up on the final lap, careful to stay out of trouble, while further back, Aerts put in a dig to secure second, while Iserbyt was safe in third, his second place overall in the bag.Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) took a solo victory at the final round of the Telenet Superprestige in Middelkerke, sealing the series overall victory in the process.

The Belgian champion beat Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions) into second place by 15 seconds, while Sweeck's teammate Eli Iserbyt took third, 22 second down. Sweeck's win came after nine laps of racing having jumped clear of a seven-man leading group. He quickly built up a sizeable gap as Telenet Baloise Lions mounted the chase. 

Despite their best efforts on behalf of Lars van der Haar, who lay third overall, it wasn't to be, and Sweeck rode untroubled into the distance to cap a flawless ride.