The Belgian team did everything in their power to stop Dutchman Mathieu van der Pol from winning his third consecutive UEC Cyclocross European Championship, but came up just three seconds short on Sunday.

In the elite men's race, Belgians Quentin Hermans and Toon Aerts rode strong early and looked like they would give Van der Pol a fight, but the 24-year-old finished the first lap in the lead. Eli Iserbyt picked up the pace on the second lap, forcing van der Pol to fight back, but van der Pol regained the initiative on the third lap.

The Belgian tried again on lap 4 with Michael Vanthourenhout, and Van der Pol had to battle five Belgian riders on the final lap.

However, despite again setting the pace on the final lap, Iserbitt missed out on the title by three seconds, with Lawrence Sweck in third by 20 seconds and Van Tulenhout in fourth by another four seconds.

Van der Pol's Dutch teammate Lars van der Haar was fifth, Hermans and Aerts were sixth and seventh, and Britain's Tom Pidcock rounded out the top eight.

"I think Michael (Van Tulenhout) and I played perfectly," Iserbitt told VTM Nieuws (according to hln.be). 'I think Michael (Van Tollenhout) and I played perfectly. Van der Pol can keep a fast pace, but he still lacks acceleration. I think we missed our chance."

"I was struggling in the canal [cross channel] and I was frustrated because Van der Pol always had a gap," Iserbitt continued. That gap would have to be filled each time, and I would lose energy." [But] it's really hard to beat him because his basic condition is so good. But if you still want to beat him, you have to do it soon. He will get even better."

Sweek was similarly philosophical in defeat.

"At the start, I didn't want to intentionally take the lead," he told VTM. I felt good during the race and felt I had the legs to win, but unfortunately I made a lot of mistakes in the last two laps, including crashing three times in the canal."

"The reason why is because I tried too hard. It's easy to make mistakes and lose even more time," Sweck said.

"At one point I was able to sit on van der Pol's wheel for a moment, but it was clear he still had another gear. But I think I had enough pace to be able to challenge for the win."

"I was still in a good position to win the race. But I think I was keeping a good enough pace to be in contention for the win.