European Cyclo-cross Championships: Michael Vanthourenhout retains Elite Men's title with long-range solo move

Michael Vanthourenhout of Belgium retained his European Cyclo-cross Championships title with a spectacular solo victory in Western France, as Cameron Mason (Great Britain) became the first non-Dutch/Belgian rider to take a medal in the event.

The Scottish youngster produced a tremendously consistent ride to take the silver medal, whilst Pim Ronhaar (Netherlands) and Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) enjoyed a head-to-head battle for the bottom step of the podium.

In the end, it was Van der Haar who came out on top in a two-up sprint to finish with the bronze medal at the end of a wet, muddy and brutal Elite Men's race.

"The season was not going well and after the Koppenberg, I feel very strong," commented Vanthourenhout. "Today was my day, and from the beginning I felt I had the good legs and I went full from start until finish - it was enough to take the victory."

"I am very happy with that, unfortunately I am also Belgian champion so it is a little bit difficult," he reflected when asked what the blue, white and gold jersey meant to him. "But the second time in a row as European champion is also very good."

Cagey opening lap welcomes in the rain

Getting underway in the rare sunshine of Western France, Laurens Sweeck of Belgium enjoyed the best start ahead of his compatriot and defending European champion, Michael Vanthourenhout.

A long way down the pack, Great Britain's Cameron Mason suffered a disappointing start and left himself with a lot of work to do as a sea of blue coloured the front of the race. Although the front was dominated by Belgium riders, the race favourite Thibau Nys was not one of those at the head of proceedings. Instead, the young Baloise Trek Lions rider sat in ninth and 11 seconds down halfway through the first lap.

Quick on the heels of Nys was Thomas Mein of Great Britain, but as the cameras darted back to the front, it was Belgium's Eli Iserbyt who had begun to line things out as the rain started to fall once again.

Leading across the line to end the first lap, Iserbyt was in a group that also contained Ryan Kamp (Netherlands), Ronhaar, Vanthourenhout, Joris Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands), Felipe Orts (Spain) and more. At this point, things were very much bunched together.

Michael Vanthourenhout makes first big move

Within the blink of an eye as the second lap got underway, Belgium's Vanthourenhout stole a march on his rivals and quickly opened up a visible gap to those behind him. For their part, his Belgian teammates disrupted the chase, which was primarily led by Orts to begin with.

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A lightning fast start from the Belgians teed up Michael Vanthourenhout's long-range move

At this point, the European Championship became a tactical affair momentarily, as the Belgians spread out across the track and prevented others from mounting a serious chase. As the riders looked around at one another, Vanthourenhout ended the second lap with a 21-second gap over a large group that had swelled behind him.

The pressure was beginning to build on the Dutch riders like Lars van der Haar to organise proceedings, but they would not be tempted into action. Instead, it was the battling Mason who had not only dug deep to recover from a poor start, but also became the first rider to attack alone in pursuit of the lone leader.

His attack was brave but effective, chipping almost ten seconds off Vanthourenhout's advantage as Iserbyt and Ronhaar desperately tried to avoid missing out on Mason's wheel. These were the leading four riders out on course as the third lap came to an end, with Nys not far behind in fifth.

Thibau Nys struggles as Lars van den Haar manoevres up the pack

Despite a slight 'slip and slide' in the mud, Vanthourenhout was undeterred throughout his fourth lap and was able to consolidate his gap to Mason, Iserbyt and Ronhaar behind. But questions remained over his durability, with the reigning champion coming undone in recent weeks in the final lap or two of races.

Further down the field, Nys' bid at the title had wilted as Van der Haar established himself as the most likely rider to break up the monopoly of the leading four riders on the course. It was becoming increasingly clear that the 19-year-old was not going to win his first Elite European Cyclo-cross Championships.

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Despite beginning the race in sunshine, the weather soon took a turn for the worse in France

Van der Haar, meanwhile, had slowly but surely closed the gap to Mason, Ronhaar and Iserbyt, all of whom had taken to dismounting ahead of the barriers, rather than bunnyhopping them. It was acknowledged that to jump the barriers in such conditions would be a frightening task indeed.

With the addition of Van der Haar into the mix in the fifth lap, Ronhaar's challenge began to fade and the Dutchman was soon distanced into fifth and cut adrift from the three-man battle for second and third - for the time being at least.

Crash disrupts Van der Haar as the chase falls to Cameron Mason's shoulders

Slowly but surely, Van der Haar began to close the gap to Vanthourenhout alone but on a left-hand, downhill bend, the Dutchman slipped out and was subsequently caught by the ever-determined Mason.

Vanthourenhout, undeterred and alone, ended his fifth lap 15 seconds ahead of Mason, 19 seconds ahead of Van der Haar and Ronhaar - with Iserbyt now the rider who had slipped down into fifth place.

With three laps to go, the chasers knew they had to take back five seconds a lap, which did not seem possible without an incident, seen as Mason and Vanthourenhout had clocked in the same lap times on the fifth time around the course in Pont-Château.

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One of the revelations of the 2023/24 campaign, Cameron Mason raised his finger to the sky in honour of his late grandfather

Mason was in search of history, given no non-Belgian or Dutch rider had medalled in this event since 2015. Halfway through the sixth lap, the 23-year-old had shaved a further three seconds from Vanthourenhout's time and the race win was touch-and-go for the Belgian.

At the end of lap six, the conditions were as bad as they had been the whole weekend and Vanthourenhout took an 18-second lead into the final two laps. Mason was second, shortly followed by Van der Haar and Ronhaar, with Iserbyt cutting a sullen figure in the cold, wind and rain.

The experience of Van der Haar saw him begin to drop Ronhaar and eye up the back wheel of Mason, as the race entered what would be its final ten minutes.

Vanthourenhout finishes the job to seal a spectacular solo victory

A little over 20 seconds was the gap between Vanthourenhout in first and Mason in second as the riders powered into the final lap. For the Belgian out front, all that remained was to avoid any form of mistake or mechnical throughout the final couple of kilometres, whilst Mason was on the verge of becoming the first British rider to ever medal in the Elite European Cyclo-cross Championships.

Try as he might, he was unable to catch Vanthourenhout, but it was a commendable effort and at one time, he had reduced the gap to 16 seconds when both were in full flight.

With Van der Haar's inopportune crash on a quick descent, Ronhaar had taken the opportunity to ride into third place, but the pair remained in an entertaining battle for the bronze medal. A final sprint delivered Van der Haar the bronze medal, with Ronhaar left to rue what might have been as he hung his head in frustration.

Behind those in the battle for the podium, Kamp edged out Iserbyt into fifth, with Sweeck ending the day in seventh, Niels Vandeputte (Belgium) in eighth, Orts in ninth and Witse Meussen (Belgium) in tenth.

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