Penultimate round of World Cup racing sees Worst close gap to Alvarado in overall standings, Aerts finishes second to maintain strong lead in series with only one round to go.
The penultimate round of the World Cup took place in Nommay, France, Sunday, with Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Annemarie Worst (777) scooping victories.
Iserbyt won the men’s race after a hard battle with Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions), who finished second, eight seconds back. Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) rounded out the podium in third place.
Iserbyt and Aerts led the race as a pair from the second lap with a narrow gap over the chase group.
Aerts attacked hard in the middle of the race to distance Iserbyt, who briefly looked in trouble. Iserbyt was caught solo in second place, with the chase group further behind him. However, after a lap, Iserbyt fought his way back to race-leader Aerts and attacked shortly after. The move was short-lived, with Aerts quick to quiet the threat, and the pair came back together through the final laps.
Iserbyt attacked again late in the last lap and this time made it stick, pulling away from Aerts and winning by eight seconds.
Aerts retains his overall World Cup lead, with a strong 41 point lead over Iserbyt and just one round remaining, next weekend in Hoogerheide.
Mathieu van der Poel was not racing as he attended a training camp with his road team.
Men’s Top-3
- Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal): 1:07:13
- Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions): 0:00:08
- Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal): 0:01:16
Worst won the women’s race from a sprint, edging out Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) and Katie Compton (Trek).
Worst led the action from early on, battling with Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Baloise Lions) and Marion Norbert-Riberolle through the start of the race. Alvarado joined the lead trio mid-way and dominated the action in her usual aggressive style.
Compton had a slow start but patiently worked her way through the field to join a large chase group in the middle of the race. The American was able to bridge across to the leaders at the end of lap 3, at which point Norbert-Riberolle fell out of contention due to a mechanical.
Worst, Alvarado and Compton remained locked together through the final lap and entered the final straight together. Worst led out the trio and had the power to win from the front.
Worst’s victory closes her gap to World Cup leader Alvarado to just five seconds, meaning it’s all to race for in next week’s final race.
Women’s Top 3
- Annemarie Worst (777): 0:41:42
- Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix): +0:00:01
- Katie Compton (Trek): +0:00:01
