After dominating the early part of the cyclocross season, Eli Iserbyt's bid for the European Championship title came to an end with a leg injury in Namur.

The 25-year-old had been one of the favorites to win the race, with five wins and four podium finishes in nine races so far.

Iserbyt also led early in Sunday's race, but eventual silver medalist Lars van der Haar overtook his rival on the cobbled section. However, silver medalist Lars van der Haar (Belgium) overtook his rivals on the cobblestone section.

The rider from Pauwels Sauzen Bingor lost over a minute on the second lap and abandoned the race at the halfway point.

"Ever since my back problem, I have been suffering from a kind of numbness in my left side. And today the problem resurfaced," Iserbitt told Sporza.

"On the first diagonal bank I lost my balance and had to get off the bike. When I jumped on the bike again I felt something in my left leg and I was in a lot of pain. I was feeling really good until then. The start went well

"The problem is no longer the back itself. But I don't want to hide the fact that I have a chronic problem somewhere. I've got it under control, but when I make a wrong move, I get frustrated again."

The winner was Iserbitt's Belgian teammate Michael Vanhollenhout. He mastered the dangerous conditions in Namur, making only one small mistake to build an unassailable lead.

Vanhollenhout has been a loyal teammate of Iserbyt's, launching attacks and slowing others down while his fellow Belgian attacked. He also finished second in the 2020 European Championships while Yzerbito won the race.

However, Vanhollenhout will wear the elite European champion jersey for the first time in his career.

"We are a team," he said. Eli wasn't very good today, but Michal took over and he was very good."

"I think Eli will be happy, they are good friends so it won't be a problem. They are very good teammates and friends at the same time."

Metteningen said his Belgian teammate was concerned about van der Haar's strength before the race.

When asked about team tactics for the race, Mettepeningen said they first needed to gauge Van der Haar's condition.

"First we need to determine if Lars van der Haar is in good shape or not. I think Lars was good, but Michal was better.