Nys races to victory ahead of Kabush, Paulissen in Gooik

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.

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