Two fifth places, and two crashes, for Sunweb-Revor rider as Sven Nys storms to both victories
No sooner had Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) taken the lead in the International Cycling Union (UCI) cyclocross ranking for the first time in his career, that two disastrous fifth places in a weekend threaten to knock him off again. The 28-year-old’s victory in the Igorre, Spain, round of the World Cup saw him step over Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet), but the Kannibaal took both the Scheldecross in Antwerp, and the Druivenveldrit in Overijse, this weekend to put the pressure back on.
Pauwels found himself the victim of crashes in both races, but has looked far from his best this weekend. According to Het Nieuwsblad, he has been suffering from a cold, which will have affected his performance, but the Sunweb-Revor rider refused to blame this for his performance on Saturday, citing the crash for his poor result.
“I had a bad start and was trying to move forward,” he said, “but suddenly I was on the ground. Afterwards I put in a strong pursuit and managed to rejoin the leaders. In Overijse I will try again to win.”
Unfortunately for Pauwels, who leads the World Cup and GvA Trofee standings, his luck was no better in today’s Druivenveldrit, with mechanical problems adding to his woes and indirectly causing him to hit the ground again.
“Because of a flat tire I lost the leading group,” he explained to Sporza afterwards. “In the pursuit I have maybe taken too many risks, and as a result I’ve crashed again. I was careful not to stay down long, like on Saturday.
“Fortunately, I came away from it okay,” he added, “because I hit the ground hard."
Two fifth places would be a useful weekend’s work for most riders, but they may have cost Pauwels his position at the top of the World rankings. Luckily they will have no affect on either the World Cup of GvA Trofee standings [he’s only third in the Superprestige series thanks to his disastrous 13th in the first round in Ruddervoorde back in October, which was the last time he finished off the podium before this weekend – ed] but might affect his confidence ahead of the races in Essen and Namur next weekend.