He is back! Eli Iserbyt wins GP Sven Nys and extends X2O lead in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel

Eli Iserbyt has had a very few hard weeks where he's struggled with his nerve injury, but as the riders flip the page into 2025 so did the Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal rider. Iserbyt won the GP Sven Nys Baal with a strong performance that also sees him exponentially increase his lead at the X2O Trofee Badkamers.

An unusual start to the year right away, as Mathieu van der Poel pulled out of the race last-minute due to a rib injury because of a crash suffered days ago. X2O leader Eli Iserbyt had a clear run to open the lead as second place Lars van der Haar was absent, and Michael Vanthourenhout also skipped the race due to illness.

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Thibau Nys was the man to watch but he didn't have it on the day, not having the power in the muddy course, but also having a tricky fall in the opening minutes of the race. Daan Soete led through the first lap, but soon enough others began attacking. Pim Ronhaar and Emiel Verstrynge got a gap over the rest of the field, which was then slowly closed by Eli Iserbyt.

The Belgian champion had a very difficult run over the past few weeks but suddenly he showed his best level again today. He caught up with the leaders and then in the penultimate lap put on a great performance to drop them.

This is the Belgian's first win in over a month. Pim Ronhaar finished a strong second place whilst Verstrynge withstood the advance of Toon Aerts to take the final spot on the podium.

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