It was a Belgian men’s one-two on the opening day of racing in Targu Mures, as Thibaut De Smet underlined his clear talent with both the Elite and U23 Cross Duathlon world titles after an untouchable performance over the run-mountain bike-run format.

Shoulder-to-shoulder with teammate Sebastien Carabin after the first 6.5km run, a slick transition saw him pull decisively clear and carve out a lead he would only extend from there. Carabin hung tough and clawed back some time over the closing 3.3km run, but it was not enough to halt De Smet’s charge, Italy’s Alessandro Saravalle biking his way to the bronze medal.

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Eighteen athletes lined up in the men’s field, and it was the Belgian trio of Thibaut and Nicolas De Smet and Sebastien Carabin going strong in the early stages, home favourite Bogdan Damian (ROU) the only athlete threatening to break up the three’s rhythm over the opening run segment.

Behind them, Slovakian duo Ondrej Kubo and Mario Kosut were also going well, and some 90 seconds back out of T1 was Saravalle, but his weapon was always likely to be his bike, and as Carabin and De Smet pulled further clear at the end of the run, that couldn’t come soon enough for the Italian. 

A flat tyre put paid to the unlucky Kosut’s chances, while Thibaut De Smet simply put the hammer down on two wheels and attacked from the outset. After two laps he suddenly had 40 seconds over his rival, over 90 seconds to the roaring Saravalle who now had precious daylight ahead of Nicolas De Smet and Kosut.

Also moving up the leaderboard was Giuseppe Lamastra (ITA), but as thoughts turned back to the final run, he had no more in the tank to press for the medals.

And there was to be no denying Nicolas De Smet his moment in the sun, the Belgian finishing a remarkable 1min45s ahead of Carabin and four ahead of Saravalle, Romania’s Bogdan Damian, who’s presence had lit up the bike course all afternoon, with an excellent fourth place.

You can see the full results here.