Top favorite Isaac Kimeli seemed to be on his way to a long solo among the men, but fell completely silent in the final meters. Michael Somers had organized his race much better and took the win.
In the last straight line, Nikolaï Saké, the sensation of this winter season, came alongside Kimeli. It was a photo finish, but Kimeli was eventually awarded second place.
Fourth place went to Ruben Querinjean, but that one comes from Luxembourg. This makes it very likely that the number five will also be allowed to go to the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin on Sunday, and that was Pieter-Jan Hannes.
The retiring Lander Tijtgat lost his shoe on the way and dropped out of the top 40 for a while. He put in another hell of a catch-up race and finished 13th.
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It was Hanna Vandenbussche who took care of the head work in the first kilometers in the absence of Mieke Gorissen and Eline Dalemans, both affected by the corona virus.
When Lisa took over Rooms, Vandenbussche had to pass. Only Nina Lauwaert managed to slide along on Schiervelde.
The 33-year-old athlete dominated the Belgian cross country running a few years ago, but subsequently experienced a few lesser years. Now Lauwaert seems to have regained her best form, because with two laps from the end she rushed away from Rooms to walk solo to the victory.
Sofie Van Accom finished 4th, Elodie Van den Abbeele completed the top 5. Roxane Cleppe became first promise.
Whether Lauwaert and Rooms are allowed to go to the European Championship in Dublin will only become clear on Tuesday morning. Then the selection committee of Belgian Athletics makes its decision. At the previous edition of the European Cross Country Championships in 2019, Belgian Ahtletics did not send out a single woman because the level was judged to be insufficiently high.
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