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GVA Trofee - Azencross / Cross des as 2010

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December 29, 2010

December 29, Elite Men:

Albert tops Nys at Azencross

By:
Brecht Decaluwé
Published:
December 29, 2010, 15:02,
Updated:
December 29, 2010, 17:19

Last lap fall in pit area costs Nys shot at victory

A mud-covered Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb - Revor) post race.

A mud-covered Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb - Revor) post race.

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Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) has won the fifth round of the GVA Trophy in Loenhout, Belgium for the second time in his career. Top honours in Loenhout came down to a two-man battle between Albert and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet), who had separated themselves from a five-man lead group during the fifth of eight laps.

Just as in the Superprestige Diegem race two days ago, it appeared that victory would be decided in a sprint finish between Albert and Nys, but the Belgian champion's recent run of bad luck continued as Nys fell in the pit area on the last lap while making a bike exchange. Nys quickly got back on his feet and mounted his fresh bike but could not close the gap on Albert, who had bypassed the pit and soloed to victory.

"Sven and I fought out a close game today. We both made mistakes but in the end I expected a sprint would be the decider," said Albert. "Suddenly Sven crashed and I didn't hesitate to go from there. Too bad because I would have loved to sprint against Sven, then I would know before the Belgian championships who the fastest was."

For Sven Nys it was yet another blow that kept him from winning a race. "The run of bad luck doesn't seem to come to an end. It's becoming a bit too much," Nys said. The Belgian champion has already had potential victories erased in three previous races due to a faulty pit exchange, a pedal which fell off and a dropped chain.

Nevertheless, Nys did a good job in the overall standings in which he made up six points on leader Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea). On New Year's day Nys can become the new overall leader in his home town of Baal.

World champion Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) rounded out the podium in third place, finishing 47 seconds down on Albert in his second race after his return to competition. In the final lap Stybar left his teammate Pauwels and German champion Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) behind.

Belgians Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea), Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) and Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) rolled across the line more than a minute behind winner Albert.

Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) battled his way into this group and grabbed ninth place just ahead of Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant Off Road). For Page it was his best result of the season in a European C1-ranked race. "Exactly. I'm happy I raced well and happy with where I'm at. Now it's a matter of confirming this result," Page said.

Niels Albert also grabbed the €1000 bonus for clocking the fastest lap time of the race. Albert won this mini-competition just ahead of Kevin Pauwels and Philipp Walsleben.

The next round of the GVA Trophy will be held in Baal, Belgium on New Year's day.

Full Results
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 0:56:22  
2 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:11  
3 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:00:47  
4 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:00:52  
5 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus 0:00:59  
6 Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:01:12  
7 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 0:01:21  
8 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:01:27  
9 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 0:01:28  
10 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team 0:01:29  
11 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 0:01:45  
12 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 0:02:23  
13 Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS 0:02:25  
14 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Auber 93 0:02:28  
15 Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:02:33  
16 Marco Bianco (Ita) 0:02:41  
17 Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 0:02:47  
18 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus    
19 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 0:02:48  
20 Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team 0:03:09  
21 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team 0:03:13  
22 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 0:03:24  
23 Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:03:33  
24 Egoitz Murgoitio (Spa) 0:03:39  
25 Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:03:43  
26 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) KDL-Trans 0:03:44  
27 Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling Team 0:03:50  
28 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:04:03  
29 Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) 0:04:27  
30 Wilant van Gils (Ned) CX Nederland 0:04:29  
31 Kevin Cant (Bel) Van Goethem Prorace Cycling Team 0:04:34  
32 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles 0:04:40  
33 Patrick Gaudy (Bel) 0:05:33  
34 Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team    
35 Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:05:36  
36 Rene Birkenfeld (Ger) Harvesterhude Rv 0:05:42  
37 Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:06:06  
38 Marek Cichosz (Pol) Legia-Felt 0:06:10  
39 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) BKCP-Powerplus    
40 Keiichi Tsujiura (Jpn) 0:06:22  
41 Rikke Dijkxhoorn (Ned) Van Vliet EBH Elshof  -1lap  
42 Stijn Huys (Bel)    
43 Isaac Suarez (Spa)    
44 Bart Verschueren (Bel) Champion System LBS Team    
45 Brian Matter (USA) Gear Grinder    
46 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Sunweb - Revor  -2laps  
47 Jody Crawforth (GBr) Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI    
48 Tom De Kort (Bel) APB Cycling Team    
49 Yu Takenouchi (Jpn)    
50 Sebastien Le Naour (Fra)    
51 Florian Le Corré (Fra) Flers Cyclisme 61    
52 Mitchell Hoke (USA) Clif Bar Development Team    
53 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) Van Goethem - Prorace    
54 Craig Richey (Can) Cyclocrossracing.Com p/b Blue  -3laps  
55 Mark Lalonde (USA) Cal Giant-Specialized    
56 Ryan Iddings (USA) Redline    
57 Sean Babcock (USA) Kona    
58 Fernandez Suarez (Spa)    
59 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team    
60 Jimmy Tielens (Bel) Team Saeco Heist O/D Berg  -4laps  
61 Ryan Knapp (USA) BikeReg.com    
62 Hikaru Kosaka (Jpn)    
63 Davy Yeater (USA) River City Bicycles-Cannondale    
64 Shaun Adamson (Can) Cycle-Smart    
65 Gareth Whittall (GBr)  -5laps  
66 David Andrew Quist (USA) Team Clif Bar Cycling    
Intermediate sprint
1 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 3 pts
2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 2  
3 Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 1  
Fastest lap
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 0:06:49  
2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:00:02  
3 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus 0:00:03  
Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee standings after 5 rounds
1 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 106 pts
2 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 102  
3 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 89  
4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 81  
5 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 80  
6 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 76  
7 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team 71  
8 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team 49  
9 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 48  
10 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus 47  
11 Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 44  
12 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 36  
13 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus 34  
14 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 32  
15 Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 24  
16 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendement Hypo Cycling Team 20  
17 Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team 19  
18 Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS 19  
19 Radomir Simunek Jr. (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus 16  
20 Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team 16  
21 Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 14  
22 Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 14  
23 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 14  
24 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ 13  
25 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 10  
26 Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 9  
27 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles 8  
28 Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 7  
29 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Auber 93 7  
30 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 6  
31 Marco Bianco (Ita) 6  
32 Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling Team 3  
33 Romain Villa (Fra) 2  
34 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 2  
35 Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) 1  
Sprint standings
1 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 11 pts
2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 7  
3 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 6  
4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 2  
5 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 2  
6 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor 2