Results Krawatencross Lille | Niels Vandeputte dominates for fifth win of the season

Niels Vandeputte delivered a commanding solo performance at the Krawatencross in Lille, riding clear through the latter half of the race to secure his fifth victory of the season and confirm his authority in the X2O Trofee.

From the opening lap, Vandeputte looked fully at ease on the sandy circuit in the Lilse Bergen. After initially following Mees Hendrikx into the first technical sections, the Alpecin rider moved smoothly to the front and began to impose a relentless tempo.

By the end of the opening laps, he had already established a small but telling advantage over Felipe Orts, with the rest of the contenders beginning to stretch out behind.

That pressure steadily increased as the race developed. Vandeputte raised the pace again midway through the race, forcing Orts onto the defensive and opening up the gaps behind them. After three laps, the difference between the leading group and the chasers had already grown significantly, underlining how quickly the race was being decided.

The decisive phase came as Vandeputte continued to grind down his rivals rather than rely on a single explosive move. Orts eventually cracked under the sustained pressure and shifted his focus to securing second place, while the battle for the final podium spot intensified behind.

Michael Vanthourenhout gradually worked his way into contention after a measured start, eventually breaking clear of Joris Nieuwenhuis as the race entered its final laps. Nieuwenhuis, who had started the day as leader of the X2O Trofee, was unable to respond after a small mistake late on, conceding third place to Vanthourenhout.

Further back, Toon Aerts was forced to abandon the podium fight with two laps remaining. Racing his final cyclocross of the season before turning his attention to the road, Aerts faded to fifth place as the attritional nature of the race took its toll. Cameron Mason endured a particularly difficult afternoon, losing several minutes and dropping well out of contention.

As the bell rang for the final lap, Vandeputte began what was effectively a victory tour, riding unchallenged to the line in 58 minutes 58 seconds. Orts followed home 28 seconds later, with Vanthourenhout completing the podium at 57 seconds.

It marked a second win in three days for Vandeputte, rounding off a dominant week and reinforcing his status as the strongest rider in the series at this stage of the winter.