Niels Albert and Sven Nys dominated the GvA Trofee race in Loenhout, Belgium, today. It wasn't until a botched bike change, sending Nys to the muddy ground shortly before the end, when the race was decided. Albert rode to the finish a few seconds ahead of Nys, Zdenek Stybar finished third. Nys inched to within four points of Kevin Pauwels in the overall of the GvA standings. Jonathan Page had a good day and was ninth in the end.
Nys' fall was the talk of the day. The team was set up close to the beginning of the change area. "I stayed too long on my bike," Nys told Sporza. "The mechanic was trying to grab my bike, while I was trying to sit on it as a long as possible. When he had it I was still with my foot in the pedal."
The mechanic grabbing the handle bar turned the wheel and Nys fell off to the side. He was quickly back up, but by the time he left the change area, Albert had the crucial time gap he needed to win.
Albert had not an easy race, either, having a bad start and quickly trailing by a half a minute. He came to the front midway through the race, and stayed with Nys for the most part, except when he had some trouble in one of the deeper mud sections.
"I made some mistakes, but I came back," he said of his chase when he made up around six seconds in less than a lap.
The toughest part for the racers was the extremely deep mud, thanks to all the snow that had melted in the warmer weather over the last few days. "This parcours suits me well, I like to ride in this," Albert said.
He was a bit sad that Nys crashed shortly before the end. "I would have liked to sprint," he explained.
Nys quickly controls peloton
Stybar was the quickest off the start line, showing that he is on his way up. But Nys took over on the extremely muddy course and after one lap had a four-second lead over an elite chase group of less than riders, including Stybar, Lars Boom, Bart Aernouts and Klaas Vantornout.
One of the big favorites, Niels Albert, was 24 seconds back, sitting close behind the second large chase group. It was almost the same picture after lap two, with the chase group more stretched out. Only Wellens, Pauwels, Aernouts and German Champion Philipp Walsleben were on Nys' tail.
Albert had moved up a few positions, and by having the fastest time in lap three was able to move to the front chase, behind Nys. The latter was still riding solo, always around five to ten seconds ahead of the others.
At the halfway point, after four laps, Albert, Walsleben Stybar and Pauwels had caught up with Nys. Albert signaled to teammate Walsleben that he wanted to move in behind Nys. Albert then accelerated away, with Nys the only rider able to follow the move.
After lap five, Albert and Nys had 18 seconds on the chasers, led by Pauwels. Albert made a costly mistake in one of the very deep mud sections. He had to dismount and Nys was gone.
Albert trailed by as many as six seconds, but had reduced the gap to one second with two laps to go. Walsleben, Stybar and Pauwels were half a minute back.
Nys and Albert rode together until a lap to go. Nys, ever the tactics master, accelerated from behind when they two hit the dirt section, catching Albert by surprise.
Albert was often hanging three to five meters back. Nys then had two problems. One, he had to change bikes. Second, he cashed while doing so. That gave Albert the edge.
The next GvA race is on New Year's day in Baal. This is Nys's home race and he woould love to take over the overall lead there.
Men's results
1. Niels Albert
2. Sven Nys
3. Zdenek Stybar
4. Kevin Pauwels
5. Philipp Walsleben
6. Bart Wellens
7. Klaas Vantornout
8. Tom Meeusen
9. Jonathan Page
10. Bart Aernouts
GvA Overall Standings
1. Kevin Pauwels 106 points
2. Sven Nys 102
3. Zdenek Stybar 89
4. Bart Wellens 81
5. Niels Albert 80
6. Klaas Vantornout 76
7. Bart Wellens 71
8. Gerben de Knegt 49
9. Tom Meeusen 48
10. Enrico Franzoi 47