Belgian Sven Nys defeated Canadian Geoff Kabush and compatriot Roel Paulissen on Thursday at the Belgian Grand Prix in Gooik. It was Nys' second mountain bike race of the season; his first - after a long cyclo-cross season - was this past weekend.
"I really hadn't expected this," Nys told Sporza after his victory. "I had trained well, but you don't really know what your condition is."
Nys' condition seemed to be just fine as he won by 1:43 over a chasing Kabush, who had opted to stay in Europe in between cross country World Cups.
"I'm really very happy with my current condition and I know what to work on the next few weeks," said Nys. "Everybody wants to to start with a victory."
Nys will test his form against even more top international riders at the Offenburg World Cup next weekend in Germany. "It's hard to say if I have the condition to win a World cup. I must always start from the back but I think I can achieve a top 20 placing. This is a good result, but World cup level is something else. I must stay calm and then I'll see how far I come."
In the women's race, Dutchwoman Laura Turpign continued her winnings ways with another victory in the Belgian national series. She defeated Joyce Vanderbeken of Belgium by 1:29 and fellow Dutchwoman Anne Terpstra by 2:06.
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sven Nys (Bel) | 1:40:03 |
| 2 | Geoff Kabush (Can) | 0:01:43 |
| 3 | Roel Paulissen (Bel) | 0:02:18 |
| 4 | Gerben De Knegt (Ned) | 0:03:58 |
| 5 | Thijs Al (Ned) | 0:04:11 |
| 6 | Frank Schotman (Ned) | 0:04:13 |
| 7 | Marco Minnaard (Ned) | 0:04:59 |
| 8 | Bart Aernouts (Bel) | 0:05:15 |
| 9 | Rudi Van Houts (Ned) | 0:05:54 |
| 10 | Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) | 0:05:56 |
| 11 | Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) | 0:06:59 |
| 12 | Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) | 0:09:01 |
| 13 | Niels Wubben (Ned) | 0:09:23 |
| 14 | Bjorn Brems (Bel) | 0:09:42 |
| 15 | Robby De Bock (Bel) | 0:11:15 |
| 16 | Tim Wynants (Bel) | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
| 17 | Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) | 0:11:17 |
| 18 | Jeroen Boelen (Ned) | 0:12:18 |
| 19 | Laurent Evrard (Bel) | 0:12:41 |
| 20 | Keiichi Tsujiura (Jpn) | 0:13:25 |
| 21 | Frans Claes (Bel) | 0:13:37 |
| 22 | Frank Beemer (Ned) | 0:13:50 |
| 23 | Kristof Houben (Bel) | 0:00:11 |
| 24 | Jelle Brackman (Bel) | 0:00:24 |
| 25 | Sébastien Hansen (Fra) | 0:00:51 |
| 26 | Jo Pirotte (Bel) | 0:01:01 |
| 27 | Irjan Luttenberg (Ned) | 0:01:45 |
| 28 | Mathias Haezebrouck (Bel) | 0:03:03 |
| 29 | Rens De Bruin (Ned) | 0:03:24 |
| 30 | Rob Vangenechten (Bel) | 0:04:16 |
| 31 | Jorgen Flion (Bel) | 0:04:47 |
| 32 | Bert Luca (Bel) | 0:05:10 |
| 33 | Benny Van Genechten (Bel) | 0:05:17 |
| 34 | Vincent Bakker (Ned) | 0:05:23 |
| 35 | Sébastien Fontaine (Bel) | 0:05:25 |
| 36 | Samuel Maryns (Bel) | 0:06:35 |
| 37 | Thomas Van Regenmortel (Ned) | 0:07:36 |
| 38 | Roan Windmolders (Bel) | 0:08:30 |
| 39 | Kristoff Lauwereys (Bel) | 0:09:09 |
| 40 | Stijn Van Boxstael (Bel) | 0:09:38 |
| 41 | Simon Mylle (Bel) | 0:09:56 |
| 42 | Benjamin Shemidt (Isr) | 0:10:02 |
| 43 | Robin Roelofs (Ned) | 0:10:37 |
| 44 | Cédric Gaudy (Bel) | 0:10:42 |
| 45 | Mario Matijevic (Bel) | 0:11:29 |
| 46 | Wouter Rubbens (Bel) | 0:12:57 |
| 47 | Stefan Onclin (Bel) | 0:14:44 |
| 48 | Jacob De Roo (Ned) | 0:15:39 |
| 49 | Jeffrey Cox (Ned) | 0:00:07 |
| 50 | Joris Garrein (Bel) | 0:01:06 |
| 51 | Jeroen Vandevijver (Bel) | 0:01:37 |
| 52 | Sam De Weghe (Bel) | 0:07:02 |
| 53 | Robin Thaens (Bel) | 0:07:52 |
| 54 | Alexandre Decoux (Bel) | 0:13:00 |
| 55 | Kenneth Goossens (Bel) | 0:15:39 |
| 56 | Thomas Peeters (Bel) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jimmy Tielens (Bel) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Hans Becking (Ned) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Bas Peters (Ned) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jonas De Backer (Bel) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Pierre Lebreton (Fra) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jan Verstraeten (Bel) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sander Bouwens (Ned) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Quentin Art (Bel) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Gihoul (Bel) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Robin Vink (Ned) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Daniel Eliad (Isr) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Patrick Gaudy (Bel) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Steven De Caluwe (Bel) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Dominique Massonet (Bel) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Hans Van Den Bogaert (Bel) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Gerry Werckx (Bel) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Stijn Robert Rubbens (Bel) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura Turpijn (Ned) | 1:12:09 |
| 2 | Joyce Vanderbeken (Bel) | 0:01:29 |
| 3 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) | 0:02:06 |
| 4 | Rozanne Slik (Ned) | 0:03:56 |
| 5 | Carina Ketonen (Fin) | 0:04:16 |
| 6 | Karin Groen (Ned) | 0:05:16 |
| 7 | Kristien Nelen (Bel) | 0:05:59 |
| 8 | Petra Mermans (Bel) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Ingrid Bosscha (Ned) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Nancy Bober (Bel) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 11 | Idit Shub (Isr) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
| 12 | Elisabeth Mottet (Bel) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Katrien Vermeiren (Bel) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
-
Rwanda Road World Championships - Riders to watch in the elite women's individual time trial
Can Marlen Reusser finally take the rainbow jersey in hilly race against the clock on the streets of Kigali -
Tour de Luxembourg: Romain Grégoire takes first leader's jersey with stage 1 victory
Frenchman out-paces Marijn van den Berg and Marc Hirschi on opening stage -
Arnaud De Lie delivers sprint victory into Namur at Grand Prix de Wallonie
Emilien Jeannière and Biniam Girmay follow for second, third positions as late attack by Victor Lafay falls short -
Tour of Slovakia: Paul Magnier best in bunch sprint for stage 1 victory
Lukáš Kubiš and Joppe Heremans sprint to podium spots
