HEERDERSTRAND — Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon) claimed his first win of the cyclo-cross season at the HG Cross Heerderstrand in the Netherlands, beating defending champion Joris Nieuwenhuis (Heizomat-Cube) by seven seconds after a nine-lap battle on the lake-side course. Wyseure stopped the clock at 1:00:05, with Nieuwenhuis second in 1:00:12 and Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech) third in 1:00:21, 16 seconds behind the winner.
The race was decided in the deep sand on the final lap. Wyseure used his power to take the longer, outside line close to the water where the wet sand offered more traction, opening a few seconds of breathing room that he steadily extended to seven seconds by the finish. “It means a lot for me. I think every win is special, and it's a nice circuit here. I think it was a nice battle also with Joran and Niels, and I'm really happy I could make it off,” Wyseure said.
The start had been untidy after the lights changed quickly from red to green. Riders on the left-hand side including Wyseure, Felipe Orts, Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) and Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Verzekeringer-Het Poetsbureau Lions) were slow away, though only Wyseure and Orts recovered to reach the front. The lead shuffled through the opening laps until six riders escaped at the end of the fourth lap — Nieuwenhuis, Vandeputte, Orts, Mees Hendrikx (Bomba-Join), 18-year-old Giel Lejeune (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Wyseure — with sunny and slightly windy conditions drying the course and riders testing the shorter inside line against the more compacted outside line.
Wyseure seized control at the end of the seventh lap, powering to the front and applying sustained pressure that dropped Hendrikx and stretched the group until the elastic broke. Locked with Nieuwenhuis with one lap to go, he broke clear in the sand and held his advantage to the finishing straight, giving a final look over his shoulder before speeding down the finish, with Orts and Lejeune completing the top five behind Vandeputte.