Unlucky puncture sees Laurens Sweeck narrowly miss out on victory in Dublin: "I didn't have that last punch anymore"

Laurens Sweeck was close to victory in the Dublin World Cup, but the leader of Crelan-Corendon was beaten in the final sprint by Dutch Pim Ronhaar. Sweeck pinpoints the untimely defect in the penultimate lap as the main culprit behind his defeat in post-race interview.

"Because of that flat tire I had to close a big gap," he says afterwards. "Pim had already started his attack, but I came back after my flat tire. So I should have accelerated there, but I didn't get the chance to recover. Yet I no longer had any doubts."

In the final round, Sweeck joined Ronhaar and went over the lead quite late. "That part was difficult. I wanted to counter him there and mentally gain the upper hand. But my legs were fully feeling, so there was not much left to do in the sprint. It was a sprint to the death, but my effort lasted too long. I didn't have that last punch anymore," said Sweeck.

Never before this season did Sweeck achieve second place in a World Cup round. "I am satisfied with my race and the feeling, so I hope to continue in that direction," he concludes.