Race officials disqualified Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sausen Bingor) from the Ixact Cross Series in Bellingen for intentionally stepping on Ryan Kamp's (Alpecin Deceuninck) bike after it crashed on a muddy downhill during the race.

The Belgian champion later apologized for his actions and said he understood why the officials disqualified him after pulling him from the circuit to the mechanics' pit on lap 6.

“I understand the jury's decision to disqualify me today in Bellingen. My actions after the violent crash were done in anger and are not appropriate for this sport,” Iserbitt said in a statement on Twitter after the race.

“I want to apologize to everyone involved for this. I am now focusing on the positives and looking forward to the next race.”

On the fifth of eight laps, the five-man lead group held a small lead over eventual winner Lars Van Der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions), who was in the chase group of Yzerbit and Camp. Van der Haar saw this as an opportunity to move ahead and close the gap.

Iserbitt and Kamp crashed on a muddy descent shortly after catching up with the leaders.

Yzerbito first untangled himself from the orange fence and picked up his bike, seemingly intentionally stepping on Camp's bike as he tried to get back on course.

Camp struggled to unhook his handlebars from the fence and appeared visibly upset by Yzerbito's actions. Kamp grabbed Iserbyt's jersey to stop him, and the two exchanged words.

Video footage then showed both riders trying to get their bikes functioning again. Iserbyt got back on his bike first and ran toward the pits to retrieve his spare bike. Camp, on the other hand, was unable to repair his bike, which appeared to have a broken rear derailleur and a hanging chain, and was forced to run to the pits. Kamp eventually made it to the pits and received a spare bike, but was too far back to rejoin the lead group.

Yzerbito started lap 6 more than a minute behind the lead group, with Kamp finishing more than 1:30 behind.

Officials were waiting for Yzerbitt as he approached the pits this lap. The official and Yzerbitt had a brief conversation, but Yzerbitt was disqualified from the competition and left the track.

Camp finished the race in 22nd place, 3:50 behind.

Yzerbito later told HLN that he regretted his actions at the Exact Cross Bellingen, but he has been at odds with Kamp since last season, accusing him of unnecessarily cutting the course first in an earlier race.

“That reaction was not necessary,” Yzabit told HLN. 'It happened in the middle of a battle. There was a simmer between us from last season. He cut me off where he didn't need to or where he simply couldn't. But my reaction wasn't good anyway."