Exact Cross Kortrijk: Niels Vandeputte beats Cameron Mason with final lap surge to win the Leiecross

Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) left it late with an attack in the final two minutes of racing to narrowly win the Exact Cross Kortrijk ahead of Cameron Mason (7 Racing).

In a closely-fought race that featured a relatively large leading group throughout most of the day, Vandeputte made the most of his speed on the flat course to beat Mason by three seconds. Ryan Kamp (Fenix) completed the podium a further four seconds behind in third place.

There were various attacks throughout the race, but a group of seven remained largely together with the high speeds allowing riders in the wheel gain the advantage of the draft over those in front. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) was particularly active in the later laps looking to stretch out the group, testing the legs of those in his slipstream.

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With the tension building and the leaders still close together on the penultimate lap, Vanthourenhout and Kamp almost came to blows on a couple of occasions as they fought for prime position through the course’s more technical sections. Shortly after, Kamp took the lead running up a steep banking and Vanthourenhout came down after re-mounting and catching his rival’s wheel, ruling the Belgian out of contention.

Mason then attacked, taking Kamp and Vandeputte with him as the others faded as they took the bell to signal the final lap. The Brit continued to put the pace on as the final lap went on as Vandeputte followed.

The Belgian attacked over the top as they rode across a bridge with half of the final the lap left to take the lead. He put some distance between himself and Mason as they navigated the final few corners, with Vandeputte taking his second victory of the season.

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