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.
Full Results
| # | 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) | |
| 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) | |
| DNF | Jimmy Tielens (Bel) | |
| DNF | Hans Becking (Ned) | |
| DNF | Bas Peters (Ned) | |
| DNF | Jonas De Backer (Bel) | |
| DNF | Pierre Lebreton (Fra) | |
| DNF | Jan Verstraeten (Bel) | |
| DNF | Sander Bouwens (Ned) | |
| DNF | Quentin Art (Bel) | |
| DNF | Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) | |
| DNF | Romain Gihoul (Bel) | |
| DNF | Robin Vink (Ned) | |
| DNF | Daniel Eliad (Isr) | |
| DNF | Patrick Gaudy (Bel) | |
| DNF | Steven De Caluwe (Bel) | |
| DNF | Dominique Massonet (Bel) | |
| DNF | Hans Van Den Bogaert (Bel) | |
| DNS | Gerry Werckx (Bel) | |
| DNS | Stijn Robert Rubbens (Bel) |
| # | 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) | |
| 9 | Ingrid Bosscha (Ned) | |
| 10 | Nancy Bober (Bel) | |
| 11 | Idit Shub (Isr) | |
| 12 | Elisabeth Mottet (Bel) | |
| DNF | Katrien Vermeiren (Bel) |
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