Where's Wellens? On the podium...

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After an ordinary start to the 2008-09 'cross season, Bart Wellens made the podium for the first time in the Superprestige round held in Gavere. And judging by his description of the race, only bad luck separated him standing on the top step of the dais rather than the lower one.

"An 'old-fashioned cross' - that's the correct term," said Wellens on his personal website, referring to the comment made by race winner, countryman and long-time rival Sven Nys. "The course was spectacular, sometimes dangerous... but that's the same for everyone and individually we must decide how much risk we want to take."

Wellens explained that despite having some stunning form, bad luck hit one of Belgium's best-loved and known riders. "The start was pretty good, but just not great; the legs felt good immediately though, and therefore I took the initiative fairly quickly. I knew that my condition was perfect so I went for broke. I soon overcame the three strongest riders and I felt the smoothness of my effort. It was at that time that I had bad luck - my cable outside of the back gear split and I couldn't shift gear, so I had to walk uphill and lost a lot of ground."

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And with Sven Nys stamping his authority on the race, Wellens needed to keep the current series leader in check. It was testament to his form that the Fidea rider was able to stay in the race given his mechanical misfortune. "I had to quickly close the gap, and I still wanted to chase the victory," said Wellens. "But after the mechanical it was a bit too much."

And if his cable troubles weren't bad enough, Wellens explained the next piece of bad luck he was to suffer. "Everyone thought I had the form, although some mud in my eyes decided the outcome for me. At the foot of the last climb I sat on the wheel of Sven and rode a full 10 metres without sight; my eyes were completely full, I missed the track and came into contact with the crowd. Nys grabbed 10 metres and he was gone."