Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) has brought to an end the winning run of Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) at the latest round of the UCI World Cup in Hulst.
Seán Nolan of EvoPro Racing was the sole Irish rider in the field. The Meath man finished in 68th place in his latest competitive outing during a stint of winter racing in Belgium.
On the opening lap Van Aert's chain became jammed, forcing him to stop, and while he frantically tried to fix the problem, it took a long time. The delay meant to he was back in 40th place by the time he got going again.
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And while Van Aert rode very strongly and eventually came through to take 4th place, his efforts after his restart were frustrated by having to pick his way through congestion down the field.
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Up front, MTB Olympic champion Pidcock was enjoying at much smoother run at the head of affairs. He was part of a group of nine riders at the front until his efforts on the third lap of nine managed to split things up.
On the 4th lap the front of the race split even further, with Pidcock and eventual runner-up Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) distancing Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions); with Van Aert continuing to chase hard in a bid to get back on terms.
And while Pidcock would go on to put some daylight between himself and World Cup leader Iserbyt, the Belgian keep the British star in his sights, with only a few seconds separating them on the final lap.
In the end Pidcock proved too strong and pulled clear to win from Iserbyt by 12 seconds, despite the winner slipping on the last lap and having a problem with his pedal. Van der Haar was 3rd at 33 seconds before Van Aert came in for 4th place, some 1:09 down on the winner.
