He also did not wish to say anything further about the incident involving former teammate Ryan Kamp (Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team), which took place in the season’s first Exact Cross race in Beringen. Iserbyt was disqualified from the race, suspended for three further races and fined. He apologized to Kamp, who said he considered the incident closed.
The Heerderstrand race was Iserbyt’s first competition after the ban. Just 24 hours later, he was denied a second weekend victory after a thrilling duel with fellow Belgian Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) in Sunday’s Superprestige event at Overijse.
Nys and Iserbyt were always near the front of a lead group that contained as many as seven riders, who took turns at the front. Nys was coming off a grueling but successful road season and an infection, which had cost him valuable training time. He had finished 13th and 12th in his first two cyclo-cross races of the season, at the now infamous Exact Cross Beringen and then at the first Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde last weekend.
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He suffered a mechanical issue in the third of 8 laps at Overijse and was forced to dismount to fix his wedged chain. But the 21-year-old, who won this year’s Tour of Hungary, seemed to have the best legs and always seemed in control of his race. He gradually made his way back to the lead group and eventually led the chase of last year’s European champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), who had taken off on a solo attack.
On lap 6, Iserbyt and Nys left the group behind and there followed an intriguing mano a mano in which Nys always seemed to have a slight advantage in both fitness and tactics. The key section was a muddy uphill hairpin that Nys ran over from the start, as did Iserbyt. But Nys seemed to emerge from that section with a slight advantage and with more confidence than his compatriot, who always seemed to be scrambling to merely keep up.
Late on lap 7 and again on the final lap, the two leaders were briefly joined by Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions), but the battle for the victory was always going to be between Nys and Iserbyt. The winner made his winning move in a technical carousel curve, opening up a small gap and then stretching it with every pedal stroke, so that he was able to slow down and celebrate the win before crossing the line. Iserbyt finished 2 seconds adrift, with van der Harr coming in third, at 5 seconds.
“I have the feeling I still need to wake up because I am living a dream for the moment,” a delighted and also relieved Nys said. “People don’t realize how difficult the last two weeks have been. I’ve been looking forward to the cyclo-cross season all summer, so to miss out on the final weeks of preparation due to illness… It’s so difficult to keep the confidence when you never have the great feeling in training or races. This was a mental game.”
He went on to say that he felt good throughout the race and was able to remain calm even after the mechanical issue. “I had a lot of energy,” Nys said. “I never panicked.”
He suggested that he still has not reached peak form. If that’s true, not only will Iserbyt have trouble defending his Superprestige title, but world cyclo-cross champion Mathieu van der Poel and the injured Wout van Aert will have their hands full with the young Belgian if they decide to race ‘cross this year.
As for Iserbyt, he said after Saturday’s win that he had every intention of defending his Superprestige title, despite the fact that he missed the first race because of the suspension. “The GC in the Superprestige is still the goal, although it will be very difficult because of the absence of Ruddervoorde. But that is still my focus.”
As for the victory, “I had my mind set on it. I had no grudge or feelings of revenge, I just wanted to have a good race,” Iserbyt said.
He took off from Laurens Sweek (Crelan–Fristads) and Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Trek Lions) on the fifth of nine laps at Heerderstrand and never looked back, increasing his lead with every lap. The only suspense was the race for second place, with Ronhaar passing his rival on the final lap. He finished 25 seconds behind the winner, with Sweek 48 seconds adrift.
“I will feel this effort, but it was the first race in which I felt reasonably good,” Iserby said afterwards. “Sweeck and Ronhaar were still fighting, so it was an hour of full throttle. Fortunately, I found a tailor-made course here with lots of twists and turns. It’s always important to get that first win.”
The next important race is the European Cyclo-cross Championships on Sunday, November 3, in Pontevedra, Spain. It should be a cracker.
