What a spectacle: Aerts crashes in winning position, Vanthourenhout secures victory in Namur

Almost everyone was at the start around the Citadel of Namur. Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert were still absent, and at the last minute, Niels Vandeputte also canceled. All other familiar names, including Thibau Nys, were at the start. So everyone was on edge at that start, knowing that an exhilarating first lap would follow.

Aerts took the lead, ahead of the always well-positioned Kevin Kuhn and Gerben Kuypers. In the background, some people tangled with each other, leaving Tibor Del Grosso and Jente Michels, among others, at a distance. Obviously, nobody waited for them to return, especially Aerts. He saw that men like Nys, Pim Ronhaar, and Vanthourenhout were further away and decided to increase the pace.

Thibau Nys, Eli Iserbyt, and Lars van der Haar also didn't have a great start, with Iserbyt being caught on camera shaking. This created a rather unusual situation, with many big names having to make up time on and around the Citadel. The crash of Aerts made things even more complicated, so the virtual podium consisted of Kuhn, Kuypers, and Emiel Verstrynge.

From the background, Vanthourenhout advanced on the third lap, while teammate Iserbyt - already complaining of nerve pain on Saturday - left the race in pain. Meanwhile, crashes followed in quick succession on the tricky course in Namur, with Ronhaar and Felipe Orts, among others, sliding through the mud.

At the front, Vanthourenhout, Kuypers, and Verstrynge were the only ones left, while Ronhaar and Aerts also had ambitions. Kuypers had to give up his spot to Aerts, who, like Vanthourenhout, was pressured by the surprisingly strong Verstrynge. The young Belgian only rode his first cyclo-cross in a little over a month after a muscle tear sidelined him for quite some time.

Vanthourenhout had a tough job with the Crelan-Corendon rider, but Aerts could also join the other two on the second-to-last lap. So we entered the final lap with three, where Verstrynge immediately accelerated brutally. Aerts countered and created a gap of about five seconds to Vanthourenhout. Verstrynge, meanwhile, was eliminated by a crash.

On the sloping side, the same thing happened to Aerts, but Vanthourenhout still managed to take the lead. With that, the Belgian secured his third win in a row.