This Saturday, the riders of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team opened their UCI cyclocross campaign on the occasion of the Ethias Cross in Bredene (West-Flanders). Quinten Hermans, Corné Van Kessel, Emiel Verstrynge and Joran Wyseure had to cover eleven laps on the Grasduinen site in front of their fans, who are welcome at the cyclocross events again this winter.
Hermans concluded his impressive road campaign with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert last Tuesday in the GP de Denain before lining up in Bredene. He managed to join the nine leaders with Corné Van Kessel and Emiel Verstrynge in the second lap after being held up by a crash. The winner of the race in Eeklo last season showed his good form on the fast and dry parcours in summer conditions. Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal outnumbered the other teams in the front, but Quinten Hermans successfully neutralized attacks from Vanthourenhout in the fourth lap and from Iserbyt in the sixth lap.
But in the end Iserbyt managed to create the decisive gap in the seventh lap. Hermans offered a strong resistance to the European Champion in the three final laps with sand, barriers and many corners. The teammates of Iserbyt had taken advantage of Hermans’s slipstream and passed the rider from Tormans Cyclo Cross Team in the final lap. Hermans finished next to the podium, 18 seconds behind after winner Iserbyt. Corné Van Kessel closed the top 10, young riders Emiel Verestrynge (14th) and Joran Wyseure (17th) finished in the top 20 of the Ethias Cross.
Earlier this Saturday, Shana Maes, who was recently crowned the new regional champion in Antwerp, took her fourth podium of the season by finishing 2nd in Wuustwezel.
« Today, I battled against the numerical dominance of Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal. They’re always strong in the beginning of the season and I reflected about how I could leave them behind me, but in the end there were not many other options as reacting to all of their attacks. On this parcours, riding in the slipstream was an advantage. So it was normal that I was defeated by them in the final. But this first race confirms my good feeling after our altitude training camp in Livigno. It’s a good start on which I can build towards the first World Cups. I usually perform well on American soil, so I want to continue this tradition this year! »
