Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) won his first World Cup race in over a year with a dominant ride in Troyes on Sunday afternoon. The Superprestige leader charged to the front of the race at the mid-way point of the eight-lap race and dislodged World Cup leader Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions), who finished 10 seconds back in second place.
Joris Nieuwenhuis (Baloise Trek Lions) took third, the first elite podium at a World Cup race for the 27-year-old.
It was a champagne-toast worthy ride in the Champagne region of France as Iserbyt controlled the race with a solo ride for the last half of the contest. With the victory he overtook Van der Haar as the World Cup series leader by just one point.
“I think [Troyes] was my favourite and one of my best races this season. I had really good legs. I had a flat tyre in the first lap, then I kept pushing, kept pushing. Lars rode a very good race, so I’m happy to take the victory,” Iserbyt said at the finish.
Van der Haar was looking to extend the winning streak for the Baloise Trek team, which had swept the first three World Cup stops - Thibau Nys winning the first race in Waterloo, then Van der Haar and Pim Ronhaar winning at the two rounds in Belgium. He took the early lead as the second lap on the dry course progressed, overtaking Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who led the charge from the green light for Baloise Trek Lions.
Ryan Kamp (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) followed on Van der Haar’s back wheel but was the first rider to make a bike change in the pits, allowing a gap to open to the current World Cup leader. Iserbyt was no where in sight.
“It was difficult to take over some guys. But when I could ride my own lines and my own pace, then I felt pretty good. Lars was a hard contender. I was happy I could close the gap,” the new World Cup leader said. “When he changed bikes, I knew I could be in the front and ride my own lines and try to push him to make mistakes.”
Van der Haar’s lead stretched to seven seconds over chasers Gerben Kuypers (Circus-Reuz-Technord) and Iserbyt. The duo continued in the chase for the next handful of laps, Iserbyt making separation from his fellow Belgian at the halfway point, but still chasing the current World Cup leader by those same seven seconds. With four laps to ride, Kuypers trailed another 15 seconds back and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Baloise Trek Lions) followed a few seconds later in fourth.
On the fifth lap, Van der Haar made a bike change in the pits which allowed Iserbyt to make the catch, and attack for the lead. Iserbyt then charged around the course to add valuable seconds to his lead, the margin stretching to eight seconds by the time the final lap was underway. Behind Nieuwenhuis put the pressure on Kuypers and slipped into third place, both over a minute down from the lone leader.
It had been 13 months since Iserbyt scored a victory in a World Cup race, having won the first three events in the 2022-2023 season then fading to finish third overall in the series.
Iserbyt will line up at the fifth round of the series next week in Dublin with an opportunity to extend his lead, as Van der Haar is not planning to compete there.
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