"I think I was slightly better on the technical sections" but Eli Iserbyt concedes defeat to Wout van Aert at Gullegem Cross

Eli Iserbyt put up a very competitive fight against Wout van Aert at Superprestige Gullegem Cross this Saturday afternoon. In the end though, the Belgian national champion couldn't quite deny his compatriot victory and Iserbyt was forced to settle for second place.

“I felt tired beforehand, because I was really deep yesterday,” Iserbyt reflected post-race, seeing plenty of positives despite the eventual disappointment. “But I felt really good on the technical sections. I think I was just a little bit better than Wout there. But on the straights and in the running I felt that Wout was definitely the better one.”

"In the beginning it was a bit of a struggle to get into it. We were riding together in a very large group. Then it was a matter of finding some confidence on the lap. That worked out well. And by putting that acceleration on myself, I got more and more confidence. So I feel like I rode a super good race," he continues. “In the last half lap I made two mistakes. I then shot next to my pedal again and then I lost the connection. And you know with Wout: if you don't have the connection on those straight sections, then he can accelerate just that little bit harder. That was the death blow today.”

“If the technical section had been at the end of the race and the running section at the beginning, I might have been able to win the race, because I think I was slightly better on the technical sections. But on the running sections and straights, so the second half of the lap, Wout was definitely the better one. So then it would have been difficult for me to win the race. Then I would have had to enter that last phase with five to ten seconds. And I knew that was not possible,” the Belgian concludes his assessment.