"Always fun to race in your own neighborhood" - Gerben Kuypers keen for success at Superprestige Ruddervoorde

The latest round of Superprestige cyclocross action takes place in Ruddervoorde on Saturday afternoon and one man with more reason than most to try and ensure success is Gerben Kuypers.

“Always fun to race in your own neighborhood,” the Flanders native tells Sporza ahead of the race. “As a West Flemish person, I feel somewhat obliged to start here.”

After a fine start to the season, Kuypers already has a pair of wins under his belt and is keen to add another at his home race although he'll face stiff competition from the likes of Laurens Sweeck, Eli Iserbyt and Lars van der Haar among others.

"The Ruddervoorde course is a mix of many things. You can describe it as a meadow cross, but one with lots of twists and turns, up and down, a sandpit, stairs. You no longer find a type of cyclo-cross throughout the season like in Ruddervoorde,” Kuypers explains. The pasture is also completely drained. Not comparable to those old-fashioned meadow crosses where you sink deep into the mud, like in Ardooie.”