After a thrilling race, Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) captured the gold medal at the World Championships in the men’s under 23 category. Iserbyt beat Adam Toupalik (Czech Republic) in a two-man sprint on the former F1 car racing circuit in Heusden-Zolder. Quinten Hermans (Belgium) was a close third.
Last year 18-year-old Iserbyt was the runner-up in the World Championships race in the junior men’s category. This season, Iserbyt also won the World Cup. There was major consternation at the end of the penultimate lap when Toupalik raised his hands thinking he’d won the World Championships.
“I didn’t expect it; early on I was really bad. My heart rate was five beats lower than usual. In the end, I saw Toupalik raising his hands one lap too early and I realized his best strengths were gone. Then, on the last lap, I started to believe in it and found my good legs again. I knew Toupalik’s focus was gone, even though he bridged back up. I had to await the sprint,” Iserbyt told Sporza.
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He was asked about how he suffered to keep up with Toupalik in the final lap, showing grit and determination. “That’s right. I died three to four times, but I also started to get stressed because of the crowd. My ears were hurting. Luckily we had a moment of silence at the Sacramentsberg.”
The man who thought he was world champion for almost ten seconds was able to put his mistake in perspective. The 19-year-old Czech rider created a minor gap in the penultimate lap and then started celebrating on the finishing straight. He closed the gap to the two Belgian leaders and managed to take a few metres but then got beaten in the sprint.
“I’m probably the biggest idiot in the world,” Toupalik said. “During the penultimate lap I thought it was the last lap, and I heard somebody shouting ‘last lap’ at me, but it was the penultimate lap. It was my mistake. I lose the world title. I raised my hands, but that’s sport. I learned that I have to keep my focus and check the numbers.”
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