The Crelan-Corendon rider had just enough gas left to hold off defending race champion Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen–Cibel Clementines) to win his second Exact Cross race of the year. Iserbyt, who has had a disappointing year while battling a chronic back condition, finished 3 seconds adrift. Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was third at 9 seconds.
In the first race after the Cyclo-cross World Championships, in which Sweeck finished tenth, and without the “Big Vans” (Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert), spectators were treated to a tense battle over a dry, very fast course that made it difficult to open gaps. So fast and dry was the Maldegem course that riders didn’t slow down for the sand pit but attacked it at full throttle.
No fewer than nine riders were still in contention at the end of lap 9, though it was clear that Sweeck and Iserbyt were the riders to beat as they took turns leading the group and occasionally accelerating to try and reduce the number of riders with them. It wasn’t until lap 10, however, that the two managed to open a small gap on the rest under Iserbyt’s impetus. The duo had 4 seconds on their pursuers at the end of the penultimate circuit and only Vandeputte managed to temporarily close them down before he was dropped again.
When Sweeck mounted his final attack, Iserbyt had no answer and could never get closer to the winner than the final margin. “It was a fun race. My idea today was to ride flat out, but every time I looked back I saw ten men on my wheel,” the winner said after the race. “After that, I decided to always sit in second or third position so that I could always be attentive. I succeeded in that. This makes me very happy, especially because Sunday [in the World Championships] was such a disappointment.”
With only a few races left in the season, Sweeck was delighted to rack up one more win before hanging up his cyclocross shoes for the year. “I actually didn’t expect it anymore, that I could win another race,” he said. “That’s why I’m happy.”
This was the sixth of the season’s seven-race Exact Cross series. Sweeck and Iserbyt have both won two, with the other victories going to van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Lars van der Haar (Baloise Glowi Lions). The Waaslandcross at Sint-Niklaas in Belgium, to be held on February 15, will be the final Exact Cross of the season.
There will be two more races in the X20 Trofee series, in which Iserbyt seems to have an insurmountable lead over Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP). Winning that series would go a long way to ease the disappointment of the season for him. In addition, one more race remains to be run in the prestigious Superprestige series, the Noordzeecross at Middelkerke, also in Belgium. Vandepuute has a lead of 85 points to 75 over van der Haar in that series, with 2024-25 World Cup champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Cibel Clementines) at 70 points.
Standings of Exact Cross Maldegem–Parkcross 2025
- Laurens Sweeck, Crelan-Corendon 59:57
- Eli Iserbyt, Pauwels Sauzen–Cibel Clementines + 0:03
- Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin-Deceuninck 0:09
- Emiel Verstrynge, Crelan-Corendon 0:12
- Toon Aerts, Deschacht-Hens-FSP 0:13
- Mees Hendrikx, Heizomat Radteam p/b Herrmann 0:14
- Anton Ferdinande (no team) 0:15
- Jente Michels, Alpecin-Deceuninck 0:22
- Joran Wyseure, Crelan-Corendon 0:37
- Jens Adams (no team) 0:41
