Kannibaal of cyclocross sees dreams of Essen victory disappear in a penultimate lap mechanical
With just over a lap an a half remaining in today’s GP Rouwmoer in Essen, Belgium, Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) appeared to have the race wrapped up. After a poor start, the Kannibaal van Baal had fought his way to the front of the race, then dropped his old rival Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea), and was seemingly on his way to yet another metronomic race victory.
Only a disaster could prevent Nys from taking his seventh Essen victory – and his fifth in the last six years – but a disaster was what he got, as a problem with his rear derailleur saw him forced out of the race.
“That was no fun,” Nys told Sporza immediately afterwards. “But as far as my condition is concerned, I have a very positive feeling about it. I had the race under control and my lead over Wellens was increasing until my rear derailleur got blocked. There were some stones and grass in between, although I’d only just changed my bike.”
The Essen race was the fourth event in the Gazet van Antwerpen (GvA) Trofee series, in which eight-time winner Nys is the defending champion. Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) had won the previous three rounds though, with Nys only managing a second and a third so far, which means that this setback puts his title defence out of reach.
“I’m not bothered about that any more,” said Nys, adding a note of support for his old adversary. “It’s good for cross that Bart has won again.”
Despite his bike being out of action, with his repair attempts causing the rear wheel to fall out as he shouldered it, Nys was far from out of the race. Wellens and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) overtook him almost immeiately and, with such a long way to run, he reasoned that it was far better to give up.
“There was no point in continuing,” he told the Belgian media, “because I was too far away from the pits. My deficit to Kevin Pauwels [in the GvA standings] was so great that only a victory would give me any chance of the overall victory.
“Finishing in about eighth place would have given me nothing,” he added, “so I thought it was better not to break my legs running and to save myself for Namen.”
With tomorrow’s World Cup race in the Walloon citadel of Namur promising similar muddy conditions, Nys will start as the overwhelming favourite. If Pauwels – who has suffered a cold recently, and is complaining of back problems – cannot recover, the Kannibaal is odds on to take the overall World Cup lead from his younger rival; even if the GvA is now out of reach.