"Bad luck always comes along" - Laurens Sweeck and Michael Vanthourenhout react to Eli Iserbyt's World Cup win

Laurens Sweeck finished second in the World Cup Antwerpen, the first World Cup race of the cyclocross season, and the thirty year old was only beaten by Eli Iserbyt. Sweeck won 2 world cup races in the 2022/2023 season, and he is hoping to get back to winning ways soon. Speaking to Sporza after the race, Sweeck revealed that he was still very happy with his performance.

“I am satisfied. The best rider won. Halfway through the race I didn't really have an answer to Iserbyt's attack,” he said.  "Without that puncture, it would have been a close call for second place.

“But in the end, bad luck always comes along. This time it went my way."

Sweeck is still trying to get back to the form that saw him win the Belgium national championships back in 2020, and he has already had some strong results this season.

Behind Sweeck, Michael Vanthourenhout took third after he suffered a puncture on the last lap. “I think I would have been on my way to second place without that flat tire,” he said.

“Just after the first material post I felt like I was riding on a flat tire. It was difficult to keep up with Laurens then. It was too close to the finish to come back.

“I am happy that things are going a bit better again. I also don’t know why I had a bad period. I consciously chose to go to Spain last week. It pays off immediately. I hope to be back in Spain after another week.”

Vanthourenhout went on to congratulate his teammate Eli Iserbyt on his win, admitting, “"We did feel some pressure from the team, but also from outside. But, we showed this weekend that we are back as a team. The most important period starts now, with the World Cup. We hope we can continue this."