Toon Aerts and Quinten Hermans net podiums while U23 rider Marthe Truyen shows her potential amongst the elite women
The Telenet Fidea Lions had a successful weekend with Toon Aerts racing to second in Belgium and Quinten Hermans to a third place in France, while the team’s U23 riders showed their promise in their respective races.
In Belgium, Toon Aerts raced to a second-place finish in the seventh stage of the DVV Trophy Cyclocross competition, the Brussels Universities Cyclocross. The race was held on the campus of the VUB Vrije UniversiteitBrussels.
Today was not only about securing my place in the GC and extending my lead on Michael (Vanthourenhout), I also wanted to use the race as a last test for the upcoming nationals and go really deep. That’s the reason I went for a long solo in Brussels.
Toon Aerts continues to hold onto second place overall in the DVV Trofee competition behind Mathieu van der Poel and has put more distance between himself and third-placed Michael Vanthourenhout after Sunday’s race.
I’m very proud of my current second place in the GC. Mathieu has 58 seconds on me, but I already have a gap of almost 5 minutes on the third in the ranking. So that’s a well-extended lead I have on Michael.
Behind Toon, it was Lars van der Haar that battled for the final podium spot but ended in fourth place.
It was great to be part of the battle for the podium in Brussels. All in all, I give myself an 8 out of 10 for this race. The legs felt good, and I did a lot of work during the race, but in the end, one small mistake cost me the podium...
In the women’s elite race Ellen Van Loy (9th) and Fleur Nagengast (18th) didn’t have their best day due to knee and back problems, and with lots of jumping off and on the bike in Brussels it was not an ideal situation. While the pair struggled on the Brussels Universities course, Telenet Fidea U23 cyclist Marthe Truyen flourished, finishing 12th among the elite women.
She had an excellent start and held the fast pace for an extended time before fading in the last laps. Next weekend, Marthe is a huge favorite for the Belgian U23 title and used the Brussels race as a test, which she passed gloriously, finishing long before her competitors that will vie for the national title.
In the men’s U23 race, Andreas Goeman succeeded in defending his third place in the GC with a fifth-place finish.
From the start on, I was part of the leading group, and I could make my mark on the race. With only one stage of the DVV Trofee to go, I’m very happy I’ve been able to defend my GC.
Meanwhile, Quinten Hermans and Nicolas Cleppe opted to race the C1 of La Mezière in France in place of Brussels and finished third and seventh respectively.
Wout van Aert and I had a good battle during the first laps of the race. We raced at a high speed and took turns in accelerating. In the end, it was Wout who won, while I sprinted for second against home rider Venturini.
- Quinten
