Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) won round two of the Superprestige Cyclo-cross series today in Zonhoven, Belgium, ahead of Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor). The Belgian national champion dominated the entirety of the race, riding mistake-free on a difficult, sandy course.
While Nys and Pauwels were able to remain within shouting distance for several laps, they were unable to make any real threats to Albert’s lead and the gap went out further before the finish. And although Pauwels sat on Nys early on, leaving the veteran Belgian to do all the work, the latter shed his younger rival before the halfway point and settled into a long, lone and ultimately fruitless pursuit of Albert.
Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step) came home fourth, and Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) was fifth.
Having had a difficult early ‘cross season, Albert had to hold back tears as he crossed the finish line. In the World Cup opener in the Czech Republic, he was held up by a photographer on the start line, and never made it back to contention. Without top form, he had yet to be in the lead group of a major race this season. Today’s performance was a notable step up, and the win brought an understandable flood of relief.
“Hopefully I can quickly forget the last two weeks,” Albert told Sporza at the finish. “This is a boost, after I failed due to those circumstances in recent weeks. The critics are silenced.”
Wellens and Stybar were aggressive early on the undulating, sandy course. A long stretch of sand, that most riders chose to tackle on the right edge, gave Stybar trouble on the first lap. Albert took control, and got an early gap on the field with Nys and Pauwels in tow.
On lap two, Albert accelerated again, and used his prowess on the sand to leave the field behind. “I love ‘cross races in the sand,” he explained. “That’s why I am delighted with this victory. Actually, I saw this race partly as a test for the World Cup race in Koksijde.”
As Albert began his long, solo journey, Nys and Pauwels were chasing together, with Nys doing all the work. But the Belgian veteran looked much more comfortable in the sand than Pauwels, and he eventually pulled away, leaving Pauwels to toil alone in third.
“I misjudged Pauwels and stayed with him for too long when Niels attacked,” Nys explained to Sporza. “This race is a dream in terms of the spectacle. A complete rider will always win.
“I’m not too bad for the overall in the Superprestige. That’s the key.”
“Immediately it felt too fast when first Niels, and then Sven rode away from me,” Pauwels added. “My legs were probably not as good as they were last week (when he won in Tabor). The course was also not to my advantage.”
With five laps to race, Albert led Nys by fourteen seconds, while Pauwels had been caught behind by Stybar, Bart Aernouts (Rabo-Giant Offroad) and Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea). The quartet crossed the line 40 seconds back.
The Zonhoven course featured several steep hills, and a hair-raising downhill in deep sand proved to be an eventful location for spectators. Several spectacular over-the-handlebars crashes were witnessed, but none more dramatic than one initiated by Meeusen. The Belgian lost traction and went over the bars, and Aernouts couldn’t avoid the Telenet-Fidea rider’s machine. Aernouts locked the front brake and went over, landing squarely on Meeusen’s bike.
The crash looked serious but both were able to remount; Meeusen finished seventh and Aernouts gutted out an eighth place finish. The Rabobank-Giant Offroad rider even managed a smile in a post-race interview.
Pauwels was able to re-establish third place by himself with team-mate Klaas Vantornout running alone in sixth. With two laps to go, it appeared as if Albert was starting to tire. His work became more laboured through the sandy sections, yet though Nys maintained a strong pace, the gap expanded to 26 seconds.
As exhaustion set in, those time gaps remained through the finish.
The next race in the Superprestige series is Hamme-Zogge on November 13.
Meanwhile Sanne Van Paassen (Brainwash) won the women’s race, beating Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) and Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands).
Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea) rode strongly on the first lap, stretching things out. Van Paassen then hit the jets on the second lap and pulled clear, and by the end of the lap she was fifteen seconds ahead of Harris, Stultiens, Sanne Cant (BKCP-Powerplus) and several other chasers. Harris was riding well but had fallen on the first lap, losing her chance to try to cover Van Paassen’s move.
The latter continued to press onwards, crashing on a steep, sandy downhill on lap three but having enough of an advantage to stave off the chase of Harris and Stultiens, who were chasing together. She increased her lead once again and was twelve seconds clear of Harris at the finish, and a further two seconds up on Stultiens.
Cant picked up fourth place, with Havlokova netting fifth.