Michael Vanthourenhout's severe crash overshadows thrilling men's cyclocross race in merksplas

Thibau Nys wasn’t there— he’s only racing in Hamme on Sunday this week. But most of the other top men’s cyclocross riders were there, and they got off to a great start!

In the women’s race, it had already become clear that opening gaps wouldn’t be a walk in the park on a sunny and fast Merksplas course, so it was great to see the top names right up front as well.

After Lucinda Brand’s crash and withdrawal from the women’s race in Niel on Wednesday, things unfortunately also went wrong for the men in the opening stages in Merksplas.

Top favorite Michael Vanthourenhout crashed, as did his teammate Gerben Kuypers and Joran Wyseure. The team leader of Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw was in pain and withdrew; the other two were able to continue but lost a lot of ground.

It was a shame for Jurgen Mettepenningen’s team, because his Pauwels Sauzen squad had actually taken the initiative in the first four laps. Even Yordi Corsus was able to keep up as the team’s third rider, but after Vanthourenhout and Kuypers crashed, he suddenly found himself the only one from the team left at the front.

Halfway through the cross-country race, the race suddenly took a different turn. A long line of riders suddenly had a chance to win, with Wyseure also managing to catch up again.

Overall leader Cameron Mason took a brief tumble and had to watch from further back in the group, while Wyseure continued to make mistakes. Joris Nieuwenhuis, Corsus, and Vandeputte were the riders who frequently led the pack.

Unprecedented scenes, with a peloton of about twenty cyclocross riders that stayed together for a very long time, causing a steady stream of minor crashes due to the crowding.

In lap 9 of 11, it was Corsus who was the first to really open up a gap and pull away. He thus forced a breakaway, with the revitalised Wyseure and Vandeputte joining him, along with Nieuwenhuis and Felipe Orts.

Wyseure kept pushing hard at the front, knowing that he could deal a blow to Mason—who was far behind—in the Superprestige standings today. He emerged first from the final turn, but Vandeputte was right on his wheel thanks to a perfect run through the sand and won the sprint. Orts surprised everyone with a third-place finish, and Corsus rode strongly to a top-ten finish, despite getting stuck in the sand on the final lap.

1. Niels Vandeputte
2. Joran Wyseure ''
3. Felipe Orts + 0.01
4. Yordi Corsus + 0.05
5. Joris Nieuwenhuis ''