"After that it was difficult to come back" - Broken shoe costs Eli Iserbyt chance to win opening Cyclocross World Cup
Cyclocross
Eli Iserbyt started off his winter with a second place behind Thibau Nys in Beringen and has seen the same happen in Waterloo. However it was not fully down to the lack of legs to fight for the win, as a broken shoe created the gap that the Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal rider had to chase back all race long.
In the first laps of the race Iserbyt took off in the fast circuit alongside Thibau Nys and Pim Ronhaar. He was being attacked by the two Baloise - Trek Lions but seemed to be in relative control. That is until he suffered an unusual mechanical. "My shoe broke because I jumped off and my foot hit my pedal," he tells. "The clasp on my shoe came off and I couldn't get it back in. I lost some time because of that change and I also lost the rhythm. After that it was difficult to come back.”
He had an incredibly fast shoe replacement however the 15 seconds lost in that period were enough to decide the race. Iserbyt chased on for the rest of the race virtually with the same gap, reeling in and dropping Ronhaar, but he could not go on to catch Nys. “I kept believing, but I still had a dip in the penultimate lap. If I hadn't had that, I might still be able to close the gap to Thibau."
However that did not happen. "But then I wasn't won yet. Thibau and his team played well. I am disappointed, because it is the second week in a row that I came second. I think I had the legs to win today," he concludes. Nevertheless, a second place was a strong start to the World Cup for the Belgian who looks to take the title, having won points on Lars van der Haar, Michael Vanthourenhout and the absent Laurens Sweeck.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Such a strong fight to the finish 💪 It's a second place for @IserbytEli in Waterloo, who never stopped fighting after a shoe change!👏 A slightly sick @vth_michael finished 6️⃣th, @_ryankamp as 7️⃣th. #FightToTheFinish #CXWorldCup
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