Fourteen years after Sven Vanthourenhout won the U23 Worlds, his nephew Michael has repeated the feat. Laurens Sweeck made it a great day for Belgium by taking second.

Until now, the top favourite has had a hard time in the races at the World Championships in Tabor but Laurens Sweeck was determined to change the trend. The Belgian went on the attack right from the beginning and clearly signaled his intentions.

However, Dutchman Stan Godrie managed to rejoin the Belgian favourite alongside four others that included Vanthourenhout.

At the midpoint, Sven Vanthourenhout's nephew found his moment to attack. Nobody managed to respond and when Sweeck hit the deck, he lost even more ground.

The favourite managed to rejoin Godrie and those two fought hard for the silver medal. However, Sweeck was never close to getting back to his compatriot in the lead.

After his overall victory in the World Cup, Vanthourenhout took his seconds big win in a week. 14 years after his uncle Sven, he has again secured a rainbow jersey for the Vanthourenhout family.

Michael Vanthournhout burst into tears at the finish. "This is fantastic," he said. "It's very nice to stand here as world champion.

"In the beginning of the race, I rode in eighth position. No really good start but I could easily move up.

"When I attacked and got a gap of 3-4 seconds, I decided to take my chance. We had already agreed that I shouldn't hesistate if I got such a gap.

"It was a technical course and I tried minimize errors in the closing stages. That was the only way to retain the gold."

To have joined Sven on the list of winners makes it even more special. "I was not yet aware of it. But it's nice that it stays in the family. Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of the season with this jersey.."

Result:

1. Michael Vanthournhout (Bel)
2. Laurens Sweeck (Bel)
3. Stan Godrie (Ned)  
4. Venturini Clement (Fra)  
5. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned)  
6. Toon Aerts (Bel)
7. Jakub Skala (Cze)  
8. Diether Sweeck (Bel) 
9. Quinten Hermans (Bel)
10. Gioele Bertolini (Ita)