Superprestige Oversijse: Michael Vanthourenhout powers to solo victory at Druivencross

Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez) lived up to his pre-race favourite billing to take a solo victory at the Druivencross in Overijse, the first event of the Telenet Superprestige on Sunday.

The Belgian put in a massive acceleration on the penultimate lap, clocking the fastest lap time of 6:47 to pull away from a five-rider lead group. He had enough time to smile at his team in the pit and high-five fans before raising his arms in victory, for the second consecutive year.

Crossing the line 15 seconds later, Witse Meeussen (Crelan-Corendon) outpowered Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech)to take second.

After a slow start, Vanthourenhout patiently picked his way through riders to make it to the front 13-rider lead group by the end of the third lap. He then applied pressure to shell riders off the back of the group, before setting back into the group. Attacks continued at the front, but Vanthourenhout waited, took a fresh bike and went to the front at the end of the seventh lap.

No other rider could match his acceleration, as the chase group of four with Meeussen, Vandeputte, British champion Cameron Mason and Swiss champion Kevin Kuhn (Heizomat-Cube) quickly switched their focus to battle for the podium places. Mason finished fourth ahead of Kuhn, who clipped in the final dash to the line.

Taking the holeshot, British National champion Cameron Mason (777) led the pack onto the cobblestones and pulled away with Gerben Kuypers (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez), Witse Meeussen (Crelan-Corendon) and Swiss champion Kevin Kuhn (Heizomat-Cube). Behind, first Felipe Orts (Euskatel-Euskadi), then Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech) set the pace, closing the seven-second gap by the end of the second lap of nine. 

By the fourth lap, a reshuffle at the front created a lead group of 13, which included Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez), who had made his way to the front after a slow start. 

One lap later, the group had dwindled down to seven riders, after first Vanthourenhout, then Kuhn applied pressure at the front to reduce numbers. Keeping up with the pace were Mason Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon), Kuypers, Meussen, Mason and Vandeputte.

Victor Van de Putte (Charles Liégeois CX Team) and Orts would yo-yo off the back for the rest of the race.

Kuhn spent a lot of energy at the front, setting a hard pace on one of the toughest courses with grass, off-camber sections with tree roots, and lots of running. This year, the sunny and blustery conditions meant that mud was not a factor for the “Mother of All Crosses”

On lap seven, after a quick look from his teammate Vanthourenhout, Kuypers went to the front and put in an attack on the climb. But after getting air at the bottom of the descent, he landed hard on the compressed ditch transition going into a cobbled section. He had to stop to fix his chain as Wyseure also crashed in the same spot, and both were out of contention.

Soon after, Vanthourenhout went to the front, with Kuhn on his wheel, but the Swiss rider was not able to stay with the Belgian, who took off solo. Vanthourenhout built his gap from six seconds to 27 seconds in one lap as he got the bell for the final round. 

Behind, the battle for second place raged, as Meussen attacked, putting Mason and Kuhn into difficulty. 

After getting a new bike, Wyseure battled his way back into the top 10, getting nine points. But Kuypers finished 16th, and only the top 15 riders garner valuable series points.

Results

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