“In the final lap I was lucky” – Michael Vanthourenhout puts early-season struggles behind him with thrilling World Cup win in Sardinia

Michael Vanthourenhout returned to winning ways in Terralba with a perfectly timed last-lap move, ending a subdued opening phase of his winter with a World Cup victory that came down to pure positioning and razor-sharp decision-making. After more than an hour of racing in the Sardinian mud, the Belgian finally prised open a race that had refused to split all afternoon.

The men’s race never found a natural break. Lap after lap, the same names tested each other without success: Joris Nieuwenhuis lighting up the sand and long straights, Pim Ronhaar attacking with intent, Laurens Sweeck fighting for the podium while keeping a calm head, and Ryan Kamp repeatedly clawing himself back into contention. Even with eleven riders still in the mix at halfway, the race stayed locked together.

Vanthourenhout, though, looked increasingly settled as the pace rose. He matched every acceleration from Nieuwenhuis and Ronhaar, rode efficiently through the mud, and refused to let the race become chaotic. When the penultimate lap thinned the group to five — Vanthourenhout, Nieuwenhuis, Sweeck, Vandeputte and Kamp — the Belgian sensed the moment approaching.

“It felt good to be fighting for the win again,” Vanthourenhout said afterwards. “I felt very strong today, but it was difficult to make a gap.”

The final lap delivered the decisive shift. With overtaking almost impossible on the Terralba course, position became everything. Nieuwenhuis tried to seize the lead, Sweeck countered to hold second wheel, and the tension mounted as the five-man group funnelled toward the final muddy climb.

Vanthourenhout struck at exactly the right second. “In the final lap I was lucky that I could move up on the inside,” he explained. “Hopefully that slightly weaker period is now behind me.”

The acceleration snapped the elastic instantly. Nieuwenhuis and Sweeck reacted, but the gap was already made.

Nieuwenhuis — again one of the strongest riders in the race — could only acknowledge the difference Vanthourenhout made when it mattered most. “Michael and I were the strongest in the race, but it was difficult to get away,” he said. “I tried to defend my position and hoped to do something in the final lap. Michael was just a bit stronger.”

Sweeck, who rode smartly all afternoon and remained in contention until the final metres, echoed that assessment. “It was a fight after every corner, but at the same time you had to position yourself well without wasting too much energy,” he said. “In the final lap I was in a good position, but in the end a tactical move from Michael in the mud made the difference.”

For Vanthourenhout, Terralba was more than just a victory — it was a welcome break of momentum at the right moment in the winter. A controlled race, a decisive final-lap attack, and a podium built on positioning rather than chaos: exactly the kind of performance that signals his season is shifting into gear.

He now leaves Sardinia with renewed confidence — and with the sense that his winter is finally moving in the right direction.