Just ducky: Aerts in command of X20 Trofee after penultimate round triumph

Tom Pidcock is the world champion, Eli Iserbyt is the World Cup titlist and leads the Superprestige series, but Toon Aerts had made his own claim on the 2021-2022 cyclocross season as he padded his X20 Trofee series lead on Sunday with a victory in the penultimate round.

Before Sunday Iserbyt had two rounds to make up 4:42 on Aerts. Both Belgians had won early rounds before Wout Van Aert showed up and earned a natural hat trick of victories. Laurens Sweeck, fresh off a Ethias Cross win in Maldegem, had taken the last round in Hamme.

Aerts, a power rider, nabbed the early lead on Lap 1, with his brother Thijs and Sweeck following. Aerts drove on into the rain while Sweeck chased hard. Iserbyt was in fifth place and lost out on bonus seconds at the end of the circuit.

Another Toon, Vandebosch, was making a bid for the podium on Lap 2, bridging over to Sweeck and Thijs Aerts. Sweeck surged ahead of the other chasers and Vandebosch biffed into the mud. Vanthourenhout surfed his way through the growing chase group to take up Position 3. Aerts’ gap was 21-seconds.

Vanthourenhout joined his Pauwel Sauzen-Bingoal teammate Sweeck on Lap 3. Toiling to come across was Alpecin-Fenix’s Niels Vandeputte. Aerts’ gap was a half minute at the end of the lap.

On the fourth of six laps, Vandeputte made the junction. Sweeck ran out of gas and fell away.

Vandeputte put distance between himself and Vanthourenhout on the penultimate lap.

On the bell lap, Vanthourenhout had a mechanical that gave Worlds runner-up Lars van der Haar and Tom Meeusen hope for the podium. The duo passed Vanthourenhout. Aerts celebrated with a little X2O Badkamers rubber duck. Van der Haar then outsprinted Meeusen for the third spot.

2021-2022 X2O Badkamers Trofee, Round 7, Lille
1) Toon Aerts (Belgium/Baloise Trek Lions) 58:08
2) Niels Vandeputte (Belgium/Alpecin-Fenix) +0:48
3) Lars van der Haar (The Netherlands/Baloise Trek Lions) +1:00