Thibaut Van Damme and Witse Bertels reclaimed their lead on Thursday after the third evening of the U23 AVS Cup. The Belgian pair (53 points) won the 500-metre time trial setting a new track record. Germans Moritz Mauss and Tobias Müller dropped to second place.
It was Switzerland’s Matteo Constant who took the first points race scoring 33 points. Frenchman Lucas Menanteau collected 23 points, while Renzo Raes had to settle for 20 points. In the second points race of the evening, Frenchman Mathieu Dupe grabbed 45 points. Müller scored 40 points, while Britain’s Toby Tombs took 36 points.
Van Damme and Bertels won the 500-metre time trial in a time of 27.496, immediately setting a new track record at the Kuipke. The previous record of 27.810 was held by Nolan Huysmans and Thibaut Bernard. Stella and Fiorin completed the track in a time of 27.983. Nicolas Aernouts and Raes clocked 28.470, good for third place.
The triumph was a double victory. Van Damme and Bertels leapfrogged the German duo Mauss/Müller to take first place, with a total of 53 points. The Belgians have a three-point lead. The Italian pair Davide Stella/Matteo Fiorin are still third in the standings with 31 points.
