The third round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was held in the sand dunes of Koksijde this afternoon. Following an exciting race Lars van der Haar finished in 4th place. With a strong move in the final meters veteran Sven Nys won his 50th World Cup race in his career.

After the race van der Haar said: “It was a hard race. I had a strong start, but crashed. Fortunately I recovered fast, but punctured a bit later. It was a very bad moment at a spot far from the pit lane, so it took long before I could change my bike and I lost a lot of positions.

“I regained my rhythm and returned to a small group. I passed the riders in front of me. In the final lap I moved up two more places and nicely finished 4th.

“The puncture kept me off the podium, which would definitely have been possible today.”