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Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) secured a solo victory within the males’s elite race at Superprestige Growth, taking his second win of the season after the X2O Trofee Kortrijk within the rainbow jersey.
The world champion and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) raced head-to-head within the opening two laps, however the Dutchman crashed on a slippery cobbled part of monitor simply after the mechanics’ pits, leaving him out of rivalry, ending thirteenth at 3:03 again.
Pidcock additionally went down within the crash however managed to get again up and keep his lead, which went out to a most of 30 seconds earlier than lastly ending 10 seconds forward of Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) and Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen) – Bingoal), who completed second and third.
“I am unsure what occurred [in the crash], but when it was on TV, everybody else would have a greater concept than me. Mathieu crashed, and I attempted to keep away from him, nevertheless it was slippery, and I crashed too. I am okay, and I hope he is okay. “I do not know what occurred precisely, however he completed, so I feel he isn’t too badly harm, I suppose,” Pidcock mentioned afterwards.
“I used to be going to maintain pushing as a result of I had begin, and I wished to maintain my very own rhythm. It was a tough course with climbs, so the final two laps had been robust. Eli and Lars had been coming, and I simply needed to see to maintain the gap to the goal.”
“They began racing, the hole closed and I saved it below management. I did not must win by 30 seconds, as a result of 15 seconds can be OK, however they had been sturdy in the previous few laps.”
Pidcock will compete within the subsequent spherical of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Antwerp on Sunday, the place van der Poel and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) are additionally anticipated to compete.
“It is going to be good. There’s lots of sand, not my favorite, however hopefully I can race with Wout and Mathieu. It isn’t my monitor, but when I can race with them it will likely be good,” Pidcock mentioned.
The way it developed
Swiss champion Kevin Kuhn (Tormans) took the outlet on the grass with Dutch champion Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions), Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal), European champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) moved up via the pack because the race revolved across the opening lap.
Pidcock took the early lead within the race however he was quickly joined by van der Poel over the boundaries and into the sandbox. Van der Poel opted to remain on the bike via the sand whereas Pidcock used his operating energy to remain in touch with the Dutch rider’s rear wheel.
The pair accomplished the primary lap in 6:half-hour, seven seconds forward of the primary chasing group of van der Haar, Iserbyt and Kuhn, and 19 seconds forward of Niels Vandeputte and Toon Vandebosch (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sweeck and Vanthourenhout.
Van der Poel slipped on the cobbles after passing via the mechanics pit and crashed on his left knee. With no room to maneuver across the accident, Pidcock additionally crashed.
Pidcock was in a position to get well and shortly get again on his bike, whereas van der Poel was left on the monitor for a number of seconds. He was quickly again on his bike, shaking his head, however then shortly dismounted to stroll up the grass hill, showing to limp on his injured left knee.
Again on his bike once more, Van der Poel rode cautiously via the following a part of the course, seeking to take inventory of any injury. Whereas he was out of rivalry for the win, he continued to race and appeared comparatively okay, leaping the boundaries and gaining pace on every subsequent course.
On the entrance of the race, Pidcock continued to place strain on the chase group, however after dropping some valuable seconds within the crash, van der Haar was in a position to briefly reconnect with the world champion halfway via the second lap.
The reunion didn’t final lengthy as Pidcock opened a 10-second hole on van der Haar at first of the third of 9 laps, with Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout chasing 16 seconds again.
Pidcock pushed that lead out to 24 seconds heading into the fourth lap and raced flawlessly across the technical circuit.
He then took in a gel at first of lap 5, about midway into the race, and with a 32-second hole, he had loads of time to lighten as much as replenish his sugar ranges.
Inside the closing two laps, the three-driver chase heated up behind Pidcock, with Iserbyt trying the strongest of the group. He opened up a small lead on van der Haar, as Vanthourenhout struggled to maintain tempo.
Regardless of his early crash, van der Poel held the quickest lap occasions, however he was positioned three minutes down and too far again to problem for a top-10 end in Growth.
Pidcock almost secured the win by crossing the end line with one lap to go along with 15 seconds remaining. Van der Haar put strain on Iserbyt via the ultimate lap, however they completed in a two-up dash, with van der Haar second and Iserbyt third.
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