World champion falls a spot, Nys still on top

Nys leads

Nys leads (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

By Laura Weislo

Reigning world cyclo-cross champion Erwin Vervecken, who was ill earlier this month and has since struggled to find his form, has lost one spot in the UCI rankings this week. Vervecken's poor performance in the Milan world cup, where he was 15th, dropped him into fourth place behind the Dutch national champion Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank), who has been consistently turning in top ten performances. De Knegt won the Huybergen C1 race in the Netherlands, bumping him up to the third spot behind Bart Wellens and Sven Nys.

Nys continued his domination of the rankings despite having lost the Milan world cup race to Wellens. Wellens' convincing victory seemed to be an indication that Nys' form might be fading, but two days later, Nys was back out on top in Hamme Zogge for round five of the Superprestige, where he turned the tables on Wellens. Vervecken, who seemed to find some form on his home soil, and took third.

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Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.