“As so often, he was not at the appointment at a championship”: is Niels Albert right to be very critical of his fellow countryman?

The now 26-year-old Eli Iserbyt missed out on a jersey again. And the analysts are also quite strict in their analyses. “I fear that it will be very difficult to win another jersey,” added Paul Herijgers Sporza to the BK in Meulebeke, among others.

Niels Albert went one step further The last news: “As so often happens, Eli Iserbyt was not at the appointment at a championship. On such a course … He had a puncture once, but he could not return.”

Eli Iserbyt’s list of honors does indeed look a bit meager, if we look at it among the pros. In youth it is very different. Six times Belgian champion among the U15 to U19, world champion among the promises in 2016 and 2018 and European titles among the juniors (2014) and promises (2017), among others.

Not a jersey collector

For the elite, it will remain at one European title for the time being, in Rosmalen in 2020. There are also two bronze medals at the World Cup, one silver medal at a European Championship and one silver medal at a Belgian Championship. Not bad figures for Iserbyt in itself.

But it must be said: he is above all a man of regularity. And anyone who wins quite a lot of cross-country races should also take jerseys on a certain day, it seems. Because the quality is certainly there in terms of breadth.

Iserbyt has been the ‘best of the rest’ for a few years now when van Aert, van der Poel and Pidcock are not there. He has won a total of 39 races over the past four seasons and has already won two prizes in the Superprestige this season.

Four times the final ranking in the X2O trophy, 1x the Superprestige and 1x the World Cup. These are very positive signals for the wallet. But if you pick up a jersey, you can ride around with it for a whole year, of course. Should he adjust his way of racing? Herijgers certainly doesn’t think so and neither do we. Just do what you feel like, Eli.