Thibau Nys makes statement with dominant Rapencross Lokeren victory in first race wearing European champion's jersey

In his first race as the new European champion, Baloise - Trek Lions' Thibau Nys has taken a real statement victory at Rapencross Lokeren, dominating the elite field present and taking a comprehensive win ahead of Alpecin-Deceuninck duo Vandeputte and Jente Michels.

Eli Iserbyt wasted little time making his presence known, coming straight to the front of the pack and starting to string things out. Only newly crowned European champion Thibau Nys, Lars van der Haar and Niels Vandeputte were keeping pace on lap 1. On lap 2, it was then Nys' turn to accelerate at the front, getting a sizeable gap. Iserbyt was working hard though and through the sand on lap 3, managed to get back into contact.

After Nys had been caught, the next man to move to the front was Vandeputte but as things started to bunch up, an elite group of six crossed the line together at the end of lap 4. Just as Iserbyt looked like he was threatening to launch a big attack, the Belgian national champion went down hard and couldn't get his bike working probably afterwards, putting him out of the running. At the front meanwhile, Laurens Sweeck and Nys were riding clear.

After Sweeck made an initial attack, Nys was able get back on the wheel and then launched clear himself with the fastest lap of the race. From there, it seemed inevitable that the European champion would power on to another victory at the start of this winter, putting clear daylight of 23 seconds between himself and chasers as the penultimate lap began. In the chase, Sweeck had been caught and passed by Alpecin-Deceuninck duo Vandeputte and Jente Michels.

As the Belgian took the bell for the last lap, his lead over Vandeputte and Michels had dropped slightly to 18 seconds but victory still looked assured and after completing the last lap without major error or incident, that win was secured.