Excellent Eli Iserbyt triumphs at Urban Cross Kortrijk after Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal tactical masterclass

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.