The Marlux-Napoleon Games team finished nicely together at Sunday's Zilvermeercross with its numerous sand sections. The problem is that it was only good enough for the places from 14 to 17.

 Klaas Vantornout, Eli Iserbyt, Michael and Diether Vanthourenhout finished nearly four minutes behind Mathieu van der Poel, while Kevin Pauwels, best team representative, did a little better with his ninth plac. It is not enough to brighten the day in the Belgian team, which destroyed things early in the race when Pauwels and the youngest Vanthourenhout rode into each other.

"After his crash, Kevin made a very good impression by starting a good comeback, but then he began to suffer," explained sports director Danny De Bie, ”probably because of this accident with Michael. Kevin made a mistake in the sand, and Tom Meeusen and Michael crashed into him. Eli also finished on the heels. As for Klaas and Dieter, they were not on a good day.” 

A reaction is expected this weekend in Essen and Overijse. Meanwhile, the team will travel to Mallorca for a week of training.

"Last week, we made a lot of volume in training. This week there will be less, but it will be harder and more intense," promised De Bie.