Iserbyt wins men's U23 title at UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships

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Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) claimed Belgium’s second rainbow jersey of the weekend in the U23 men’s race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, riding solo to the line after a mid-race attack. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands) took silver, 28 seconds back, while Yan Gras (France) took bronze at 35 seconds.

Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) had been the pre-race favourite, having won the U23 versions of the UCI World Cup, Superprestige and DVV Trophy, as well as winning the U23 National Championships this season but he could only manage 15th place.

However, the British rider had trouble from the start, with his foot coming out of the pedals early on as the Dutch and Belgians took command at the start. Nieuwenhuis was the early leader after a fast start saw the fastest lap of the weekend so far, with 2016 world champion Iserbyt close behind.

A group consisting of Gras, Antoine Benoist (France) and Sieben Wouters (Netherlands) was next on the course, in a race that saw the sorting happen earlier rather than later.

Iserbyt passed Niewenhuis early on lap two, powering past as the cameras focused on Pidcock, who looked to be labouring 30 seconds further back. By the end of the lap the gap between the front two was 20 seconds as Gras began to separate himself from the chasing group.

Despite a minor crash in the deep mud on lap three, Iserbyt looked in command of proceedings by the midway point of the five-lap race. At that point, hopes of any expected Pidcock comeback looked to be over, as he lapped 50 seconds back.

The penultimate lap of the race saw Gras close in on Nieuwenhuis for second, setting up the main battle of the day. Gras managed to stick with the Dutchman, but didn’t - or couldn’t - put in a big move, leaving Nieuwenhuis to pull away again midway through the final lap.

Up front it was plain sailing for Iserbyt, with no danger of being caught as he sealed his second World Championship. Nieuwenhuis and Gras followed half a minute back, while Pidcock ended up in 15th place, 3:57 back.

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