"I got into a bit of a downward spiral" - Eli Iserbyt ends dark period with victorious weekend and World Cup success in Antwerpen

Eli Iserbyt has had quite the start of the season, being disqualified and then suspended on his very first race in Beringen; being thrown beer at the Koppenbergcross and missing out on any big victory. At the Superprestige and X2O Trofee he is still to raise his arms, but he has succeeded at the World Cup Antwerpen, the first round of the most important competition.

He won the Exact Cross Heerdestrand early in the season, but had a string of secondary results afterwards, which was only broken yesterday at the Urban Cross in Kortrijk where a collective race with Michael Vanthourenhout saw them pull of a one-two. “The condition was actually better than the results reflected. That was frustrating. I got into a bit of a downward spiral. It’s hard to get out of that. If you win yesterday in a kind of home race, that’s liberating," Iserbyt said in a post-race interview.

After succeeding yesterday, the Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal riders rode the same tactic today in Antwerpen, and Iserbyt had the legs to really finish the job off. He matched Laurens Sweeck's early attacks, and with a strong attack on lap 4 he made the winning difference as the rest of the field couldn't close it back down.

“I had the feeling that Laurens [Sweeck] rode very well in the sand, but that he had to back off a bit on the straights. Those parts were perhaps more to my advantage," the 27-year old added. It was arguably his strongest performance of the winter so far, and in perfect timing as he also takes over the lead of the World Cup where he was victorious last year.

“It was difficult that I always had to make the track myself on the long stretches. That was to the advantage of the pursuers. The gap became smaller each time. So it was important not to make any mistakes and that worked out very well today. I am happy that a non-sand specialist can win in a sand cross," he concluded.