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In markedly similar conditions to the ones he won in last year, Michael Vanthourenhout rode to his second straight European cyclocross title.
Thick mud caked the course in Pont-Château on Sunday and the skies would open in dramatic fashion halfway through the race, but that was no bother for Vanthourenhout. The Belgian had gone clear in the opening laps and never had a gap of more than 30 seconds, but he kept pushing to hold off the chasers.
British rider Cameron Mason took the biggest result of his career so far, coming through for second place just seven seconds behind Vanthourenhout. Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) at one point looked like he might be able to bring back Vanthourenhout, but two crashes in the second half of the race eliminated his chances and he finished 19 seconds back.
“The season was not going well but after the Koppenberg I feel very strong. Today was my day, and from the beginning, I felt I had good legs and I went full from the start to the finish. It was enough to take the win,” he said after the win.
A storm rolling through the day before and regular rain showers, made for a tough slog of a race through the mud.
Michael Vanthourenhout surged clear of a bunched-up pack on the opening laps, pulling out a small gap on a gaggle of riders that was primarily made up of Dutch and Belgians. Eli Iserbyt ran interference at the front of the chasing group, trying to stifle any chase.
Vanthourenhout held an advantage of just over 20 seconds as he finished lap two, but some riders behind started taking the action into their own hands to prevent Belgium from stifling the race. Britain’s Cameron Mason was one such rider and he launched an attack off the chase group in an effort to bring Vanthourenhout back.
Mason started taking time out of Vanthourenhout and was just 15 seconds down at the end of the third lap, but the 23-year-old had a group of riders following close behind, including Iserbyt, Pim Ronhaar, and Thibau Nys. Meanwhile, the rain began tumbling down again, adding to the challenging conditions already faced by the riders.
Nys would be gapped as the group caught up with Mason to form a three-rider chasing group behind Vanthourenhout. Lars van der Haar closed the gap to the chasers just before the start of the fifth lap, making it four riders trying to catch Vanthourenhout.
The chase had stagnated somewhat at the midway point of the race and there were still around 15 seconds between the Belgian leader and the four behind. With Ronhaar out the back due to a bike change, Van der Haar started piling the pressure on in an effort to cut the distance to the front of the race.
Van der Haar’s push did some damage, cracking Iserbyt and Mason, with the former eventually being dropped by the latter. Belgian brows would have been furrowed as Van der Haar began clawing his way back to Vanthourenhout, but the Dutchman slipped out on a corner, giving the leader a little more room to breathe.
Mason passed the stricken Van der Haar to regain second place, with Ronhaar sticking with his teammate to help close the gap again.
The conditions only got tougher with the rain coming down harder and the wind billowing across the course, buffeting the flags. With two laps to go Vanthourenhout, had edged out his advantage to 19 seconds over Mason but everything was still to play for.
Van der Haar suffered another crash as his back wheel slid out on a fast section of course, all but ending any chance he had at coming back to take the gold medal.
Up front, Vanthourenhout slipped and slid in the difficult conditions, but he stayed upright to take the win. He could see Mason over his shoulder as he started celebrating before the line, but he had done enough to take his second European jersey.
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November 05, 2023 at 10:31PM
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