Pidcock is back from last to pole, but Vanthourenhout wins at Overijse

One race was enough Cyclocross World Champion Tom Pidcock To return to high performance. The 24-year-old Briton started his season with a disappointing performance at the Merksplas yesterday Cyclocross. Just 24 hours later, in today’s World Cup race announcement offrigsPidcock instead showed all his class and technical ability, even if he failed to win. The reigning world champion ended up bottom of the group in the early stages and was then the protagonist of the comeback that put him in front of everyone. European champion Michael Vanthornhout However, he managed to resist the most impulsive moment of the British, and in the final part of the race took advantage of some of his opponent’s mistakes to go on to win.

Pidcock is immediately at the back of the pack

Stage offrigs The cyclo-cross world cup gave the scenery and emotions. The track, one of the most classic and demanding cross with lots of mud and gradients, created the selection right from the start. On boot they were Elie Esserbet and Michael Vanthornhout To take the lead, but the turn was the world champion’s vision Tom Pidcock, in his second race of the season, he sank to last with a gearbox problem. Then the Briton started his comeback, flying over the mud between overtaking turns and tight ropes that showed off his excellent driving skills.

Already at the end of the second lap, Pidcock rejoined Vanthornhout and Iserbet, and immediately tried to force the pace.

European champion Vanthornhout managed, with some difficulty, to keep in touch with Pidcock, while Esserbet collapsed and ended up out of contention for the coronation as well. In the lead is thus the world champion and European champion, with the son of Art Thibau Nys, Laurens Sweeck, and Lars Van der Haar More delayed to compete for third place and weighty points in the World Cup standings.

Vanthornhout: ‘It’s almost as good as the European Championship’

In the second part of the race, Bidcock Perhaps he paid little for the effort of the initial comeback and made many mistakes. The Briton also fell on a short section of asphalt at the end of a descent. Vanthourenhouttranslated into a cleaner, more solid race, he tapped it to a ten-second lead, then stubbornly defended against a last-ditch comeback attempt by the reigning world champion.

And so Vanthourenhout went on to win in a great challenge finish, with Pidcock second and the protagonist of a very convincing race, but on the condition that there were a few mistakes too many. In the final two states, Van der Haar managed to overtake Swick, in third place, with Nievenhuis and Ness following suit.

He commented, “It is a win that almost deserves the European Championship.” Michael Vanthornhout At the end of Overjise’s run. “It was difficult to make a difference, maybe I wasn’t the best in the technical aspects.

Uphill Pidcock was hard to follow and it was hard not to make mistakes. I’m glad I managed to do it and hopefully I can maintain this status for a long time “added the European champions. Tom Pidcock He said he was satisfied with his test. The world champion confirmed that the delay accumulated at the start was due to a mechanical problem. “I had a problem with the gearbox and had to chase, the shoe was also loose and it was difficult to ride. Today the course was more suitable for me, similar to the one in the UK. As an assessment for this second race I will give myself 8 out of 10,” commented Bidcock.

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