Van Aert a class above the rest in GP Sven Nys

With yet another demonstration Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) picked up another solo victory in the GP Sven Nys in sunny Baal, Belgium on New Year's day. On a tough course with sticky mud Van Aert finished 46 seconds ahead of Dutch champion Lars van der Haar and 56 seconds ahead of Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) in the seventh and penultimate round of the Bpost Bank Trophy cyclo-cross series.

Home rider Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink) was fifth at nearly two minutes from winner Van Aert. Thanks to his performance in Baal, his fifth win in seven rounds, Van Aert is assured the win in the overall Bpost Bank Trofee, which he now leads by 6:07 over Pauwels. With just one race remaining in the series, the Krawatencross in Lille in February, and a maximum time loss of 5:30, Van Aert could skip the last race if he wanted to. "I'm still planning to race it. I'd love to celebrate the overall victory in Lille," Van Aert said. The 20 year-old Belgian lives in Lille, near Antwerp.

"Before the season this wasn't what we expected. Now I'm heading to the Belgian championships with the hope for the victory. I don't have to win as there are many more chances remaining in the future," Van Aert told Sporza.

Halfway through the race Sven Nys made the home crowd go mad by bunny-hopping the barriers and moving into the lead position of a race for the first time in weeks. When Van Aert answered Nys' move with an attack only Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) was able to follow. One lap later Meeusen flatted at long distance from the pit area, ruining his day. A disillusioned Meeusen had to wave goodbye to a nearly certain second place in the overall classification. He faded to ninth place at the finish line, dropping to fourth overall in the series behind Van Aert, Pauwels and Nys. For Van Aert there was no other option than to go solo from there.

"I had something left in my tank during the second half of the race and got into the lead together with Tom Meeusen. Apparently he had a mechanical so I ended up riding solo at quite a distance from the finish. Quickly I had a big gap. Without the bad luck for Tom it would've been more exciting," Van Aert said, almost apologizing for his dominance.

Behind him Van der Haar rode away from Nys, Pauwels, and his once again strong performing teammate Gianni Vermeersch. The Dutchman regretted missing the move that put Van Aert and Meeusen in front. "When Nys attacked I briefly had a bad moment. I hoped the pace would drop but then Van Aert went flat out. At that moment it wasn't possible to keep up," Van der Haar said.

Van der Haar had no trouble taking second place. Behind him Pauwels gapped Nys for the final podium spot which was Nys' target before the race. Nys punctured on the final lap, and was overtaken by Vermeersch, who took his third top five result in one week of racing. "Top five seems possible at the Belgian championships. A selection for the world championships? If I keep racing like this then hopefully it'll follow automatically," Vermeersch told Sporza.

For Nys his fifth place was another step forward in his way back up the ladder after his recent struggles. "It wasn't bad, better than Loenhout. It wasn't possible to force things but I ended up riding in front nevertheless. Wout was playing with the pedals but I couldn't help giving it a shot. Right after that he attacked and I had to search for my own rhythm," Nys told Sporza. When asked about his chances for the Belgian championships Nys was clear. "Maybe a podium is possible but nothing more. One rider is a level above the rest. You're blind if you're denying that," Nys added.

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