Victory for Vandeputte! Alpecin-Deceuninck star soars to the win at Flandriencross Hamme

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Niels Vandeputte has taken the win at Flandriencross Hamme 2024 this Sunday afternoon on the latest round of the X2O Badkamers Trofee ahead of Eli Iserbyt and Felipe Orts. 

Niels Vandeputte quickly took control at the front over the opening lap, staying out of trouble without being able to create any meaningful gap to the rest of the riders behind. As Eli Iserbyt made an error holding up the the rest of the pack behind him on lap 3, the four man group of Michael Vanthourenhout, Felipe Orts, Thibau Nys and Vandeputte gained a sizeable lead up ahead.

On lap 5, Orts took control of the pace at the front, getting a small gap ahead of Vandeputte and Vanthourenhout, although Nys was locked to the Spaniard's back wheel. As Orts backed off slightly though, both Vandeputte and Vanthourenhout managed to get themselves back into contact. That lull actually brought both Lars van der Haar and Iserbyt back into contention also, increasing the leading group's number to six.

As they crossed the line for the start of lap 7, Orts, perhaps realising the dangers of the new additions to the group, attacked hard on the road. By the time he saw the finish line again, the Spaniard's advantage was only 3 seconds though. After Orts was caught shortly after, Iserbyt was the next to make a move, thinking for the overall X2O standings as much as anything and looking to put time into Van der Haar.

On the penultimate lap, Iserbyt again hit the deck, but as he was leading it actually didn't prove too costly with his rivals having to unclip behind him. As they took the bell, a five man group of Iserbyt, Nys, Vandeputte, Vanthourenhout and Orts were all together.

Through the mud, Vandeputte made his move, taking control of the front ahead of Iserbyt. With each rider emptying themselves, the course was being pushed to its very limits but despite the best efforts of the Belgian national champion, victory went to Vandeputte.