Tom Pidcock loses out to Michael Vanthourenhout after crashing in the sixth round at the Cyclo-cross World Cup

Published 20/11/2022 at 16:20 GMT

In a hard-fought race, which came down to the wire, Tom Pidcock was forced to watch European Champion Michael Vanthourenhout beat him in the sixth round of the Cyclo-cross World Cup. Pidcock's crash in the penultimate lap proved to be costly, but he never gave up, finishing in second, three seconds after the winner. Watch Cyclo-cross live on Eurosport and discovery+.

Highlights: Vanthourenhout edges Pidcock in thrilling race

European champion Michael Vanthourenhout beat world champion Tom Pidcock by a mere 0:03 during the sixth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup cycling event in Overijse.

The two were neck and neck in the final three laps, but after a crash from Pidcock in the sixth lap, where he slipped in the mud after swerving to avoid a barrier, he was unable to beat the Belgian, finishing three seconds behind the winning time of 1:05:42.

Lars van der Haar didn't have to fight off anyone for third as he took his fifth podium in five World Cup events.

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After an issue on the start line, Pidcock managed to come back from 43rd early on, and work his way up to third in the second lap on the muddy track.

After the crash, he continued to close in on Vanthourenhout, who constantly looked over his shoulder as he was racing but the Briton was unable to beat him to the finish line.

"I think [that was] even better than the European Championships. It was really close with Tom," said Vanthourenhout after the race.

"In the uphill, it was really hard to follow him, but I think it was a good battle."

When asked about how he ensured he stayed ahead after Pidcock crashed, the winner said: "It was very difficult. In the last two laps, I pushed very hard. I saw him coming very close. I know I didn't make any mistakes. It was difficult but very beautiful."

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Puck Pieterse won her first World Cup in the sixth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross event at the Druivencross in Overijse.

The 20-year-old started strong from the very first lap of the mud-ridden course and continued to extend her lead to finish with a time of 52:44.

Fem Van Empel, who has impressed during the World Cup series so far this season, managed a second-placed finish, 01:03 after Pieterse. Shirin van Anrooij claimed third.

Highlights: Pieterse takes the win in Overijse as Dutch dominate by securing top six

Great Britain's Zoe Backstedt and Ella Maclean-Howell ended in 11th and 27th place, respectively.

"It was such a cool race, but really hard," Pieterse said after her victory. "I just took all the risks on the first laps to take an advantage, then rode my own pace, a bit more safe.

"I expected it to be more together at the beginning of the race, but it wasn't, and I'm really happy about that."

"My legs felt really heavy from the start," Van Empel said. "I chose to ride my own pace, and I'm happy with second. Puck was outstanding."

Pieterse's victory means that she climbs up to third in the overall standings despite missing the first two rounds in the United States. Van Empel remains in top spot with 220 points.

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