Eli Iserbyt got the "green light" to race in Hulst on Sunday and defend his title from last year, his team, Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, reported today.

The team posted on social media that the European cyclocross champion visited a physical therapist to check his left elbow, which he injured in the Superprestige race in Heusden-Zolder the day after Christmas. He was taken away on a stretcher with a suspected broken elbow after he crashed on the third lap chasing winner Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix).

The next day, the 23-year-old Belgian rider confirmed that he had no broken bones, saying on Twitter The crash in Zolder was painful, but fortunately they didn't find any broken bones. But fortunately they didn't find any fractures: we'll be back!"

This year's Hulst Race is a UCI World Cup event and the fourth of five races. It is also the last test for Iserbyt and his Belgian compatriot before the national cyclocross championships in Meulebeke next weekend. He won the silver medal in 2020, with the title going to his Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal teammate Laurens Sweeck.

The injury prevented Iserbitt from competing in the World Cup in Dendermonde.

Yzerbito returned to racing at the GP Sven Nys in Baar, where he briefly led the race but finished fourth.

"I didn't expect this to happen. Maybe my legs were a little fresher because I haven't raced as much the last few days. I don't know, but it felt really good. But eventually the pain came back."

Yzerbito moved from the U23 ranks to the elite level at the start of the 2019-20 cyclocross season and immediately left his mark by winning the first three rounds of the World Cup series. This season, he has six wins and finished second in the first round of the World Cup in Tabor.