Excellent Eli Iserbyt triumphs at Urban Cross Kortrijk after Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal tactical masterclass
Cyclocross
Eli Iserbyt has taken victory at Urban Cross Kortrijk 2024 this Saturday afternoon, making a statement before Sunday's World Cup opener in Antwerp.
After the dominant display from Fem van Empel in the women's race, things were a lot more closely fought over the opening laps of the men's. Eli Iserbyt led through the end of lap 1 without making any real differences, before teammate Michael Vanthourenhout took over and Iserbyt adopted his typical position at the head of the chase group, hoping to allow his teammate to sneakily build up a gap.
After the likes of Niels Vandeputte wised up and covered the Vanthourenhout move, Iserbyt immediately countered himself. Sadly for the Belgian national champion, just as he looked set to force a gap himself, the pushed a little too hard and slid out, right in front of the pits, nullifying the threat of his acceleration.
On lap 5, it was then Vanthourenhout's turn to go on the attack again and this time, under 23 world champion Jente Michels was the man attempting to lead the chase. The Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal duo continued to play the team tactics to perfection as immediately following Vanthourenhout's catch, Iserbyt went again, clocking the new fastest lap of the race to surge clear.
Starting the penultimate lap, Iserbyt's advantage had grown to 20 seconds over the group of Michels, Vanthourenhout, Vandeputte and Gerben Kuypers. Managing the final two laps without incident, victory was confirmed for Iserbyt, with Vandeputte and Vanthourenhout taking second and third respectively.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
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Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
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