Everything about Eli Iserbyt

Eli Iserbyt, born Oct. 22, 1997, is a Belgian cyclocrossfor Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw. He has been a multiple time Belgian and European Champion whilst also being one of the few riders to have conquered races and classification in all three main cups: World Cup, Superprestige and X2O Badkamers Trofee.

Name: Eli Iserbyt
Birthday: October 22, 1997
Birthplace: Bavikhove, Belgium
Turned pro: 2016
Height: 1.65m

Eli Iserbyt was born on Oct. 22, 1997 in Bavikhove, Belgium. A cyclocross specialist, he is also a pro road cyclist and mountain biker, but it is his talent and achievements in the off-road discipline that have put him in the spotlight for several years. Iserbyt currently rides for Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal and has one of the longest contracts in pro cycling, until 2026. He is the fiancée of Fien Maddens, a digital marketer.

He has recently turned to MTB and achieved a few podium finishes in international races in addition to lesser results, but in 2022 he suffered from back problems in the summer and had to postpone his participation in the World Cups for Belgium. He prefers the off-road disciplines because they suit him better, on the road he has never been able to achieve the same results, still without pro victories and with a 3rd place in the 2018 Boucles de la Mayenne as his best result.

Iserbyt has been a cyclocross specialist since his younger years. In his two junior seasons he won the national championships both times and in his last season - 2014/2015 - he won the World Cup and Superprestige, in addition to winning 16 of his 20 races, including a victory in the European Championships in Lorsch. Before the start of the 2015/2016 season, he signed with the Marlux-Napoleon Games team, the team he represents to this day.

Because he came after the generation of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, among several other riders he currently rivals, he was given more freedom to hunt for victories. He spent four seasons as an under-23 rider, but right from the first in 2015-2016 he won the World Cup and Superprestige by beating Quinten Hermans in both. He managed to pick up 12 wins, including the world title in Heusden-Zolder.

He won the DVV Verzekeringen Trophy in the 2016-2017 season . It was a mid-September to mid-February season, and he won 8 races, with a couple of appearances in the Elite rankings. In 2017-2018 , Iserbyt won the DVV Verzekeringen Trophy again, in a season that was almost 50/50 between the Under-23 and Elite levels. This year he won 12 races, including the European Championship in Tabor and the World Championship in Valkenburg.

2018-2019 was his last year as an under-23 rider, although he only rode the World Cup and European/World Championships at that level, the rest of the season at Elite level. He picked up only 3 wins this season, but they were all in U23 World Cup races, after which he rode to 2nd place at both European and World Championships, with Tom Pidcock picking up the victories in a rivalry that had developed.

In 2019-2020 , Iserbyt rode fully at the Elite level for the first time. He was immediately successful with two dominant victories in the U.S. World Cups. The Belgian picked up 10 victories this season, also won the World Cups in Bern and Nommay, won the DVV Trophy and finished second in both the World Cup and Superprestige. In 2020-2021, he won the X2O Baths and finished second in the Telenet Superprestige. He became European champion in 's-Hertogenbosch and picked up 7 victories, but none in the World Cup where he remarkably rode only 3 events.

In 2021-2022 Iserbyt was most dominant among the men in the discipline, winning the World Cup and Superprestige and finishing 2nd in the X2O Bathrooms Trophy. He won 14 races this season, traditionally the most in the first half of the season. He won the World Cups of Waterloo, Iowa City, Overijse, Koksijde, Besançon, Flamanville and Hoogerheide.

In 2022-2023, Iserbyt began the season in great form, winning the three opening rounds of the World Cup in Waterloo, Fayetteville and Tabor, in addition to two other victories. As of mid-November, he was still leading the World Cup. He won immediately after that in Ruddervoorde, but after that the flow of victories stopped. In December, he was injured in Val di Sole, which hurt his chances of winning the World Cup. His next victory came more than two months later in the GP Sven Nys, the first race of 2023. Iserbyt finished third at the world championships in Hoogerheide, only behind Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert; he then won in Middelkerke and Brussels to close out the season. He won the X2O Trofee Badkamers, finished second in the Superprestige and third in the World Cup.

In the 2023-2024 season he struggled against Thibau Nys in the opening races of the year, but in the Superprestige Cup he flourished and took his first three wins of the season, all in that competition: In Overijse, Ruddervoorde and Niel. Iserbyt won the World Cup and Superprestige on the basis of consistency, winning big early in the year and then holding his own whilst the big figures of the sport appeared mid-season. He won the World Cup rounds in Troyes and Flamanville alongside the Belgian national championships to wrap up a successful season. He was fifth in the World Championships in Tabor.

His 2024-2025 season started off on the rocks as right in his first appearance, he was disqualified from the race in Berigen after stepping on the bike of former teammate Ryan Kamp, breaking his derailleur. He suffered a heavy fine and a week-long suspension as a result. As highlights of his season were the overall triumph at the X2O Badkamers Trofee and the World Cup win in Antwerp.

However after the season he's been diagnosed with a limitation of blood flow through the femoral artery, which led to pain, numbness and problems in performance often, which is delaying significantly or completely shutting down his chances of even competing in the 2025-2026 season.