Stybar solos to first World Cup win of season

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World champion Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) claimed his first World Cup victory this season with a win in Liévin, a town near Lens in the north of France. On a fast course with a mixture of a frozen subsoil and a muddy top layer Stybar excelled on his pink bike in the penultimate World Cup round.

"I came to France to train. I wasn't focused and even showed up too late at the start but still I managed to win," Stybar said.

The leading duo of Stybar and Pauwels seemed destined to sprint it out for victory, just as they had done in the Zolder World Cup, until disaster struck Pauwels on the final lap. The World Cup leader stumbled, then face-planted on the stairs enabling Stybar to ride away for the race win.

"Pauwels fell on the stairs and that probably was my luck. I don't know if I would've been able to beat him otherwise although I saw him suffering on the bike; it's hard to tell," Stybar said.

For Pauwels his second place was enough as consolation for his crash. "I came to Liévin to finish ahead of Nys and that succeeded. I thought Stybar wanted to ride away on the stairs and that's why I probably arrived there too fast and stumbled; it's a pity," Pauwels said. "Stybar was slightly better. He could not shake me off but more than following wasn't possible for me. Together with Nys he's the top favorite for the world championships to me."

In the World Cup standings Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) extended his lead over Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) from 10 to 20 points. Next week at the last World Cup round in Hoogerheide, Pauwels needs to finish in the top-four if Nys wins the race in order to claim the overall win in the World Cup.

Winning move forms early on blazing fast parcours

During the second lap Pauwels accelerated and only Philip Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) and teammate Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus) were able to keep up with the World Cup leader. Walsleben was dropped on the third lap and his spot was taken by Stybar who bridged the gap of 10 seconds to the leaders on his own.

The situation remained the same for most of the race until Stybar accelerated during the eighth of eleven laps, when the nine-man chase group was more than 40 seconds down on the leaders. Simunek couldn't remain in contact with Pauwels and Stybar, but he held off the chasers to finish on the podium in third place. "I'm very happy with this podium place. It's been ages since I did that in a big race. Stybar and Pauwels were too strong with Stybar looking slightly better. If he pulled I was really suffering," Simunek said.

A lackluster start from Belgian champion Nys – runner-up in the World Cup standings - ruined his run for glory but he salvaged his World Cup classification by finishing as best of the rest in fourth. "A wrong tire choice cost me my start which is my own mistake. I was slipping from left to right," Nys said.

Halfway the race the Belgian champion moved up in the chase group and went flat out but one lap later he sat back in the big chase group. "With a different set of tires things improved. I tried to come back on them when the gap was up to twenty seconds but I didn't manage to make the gap smaller. The World Cup isn't over yet. I'll keep fighting for it until the last round next week in Hoogerheide," Nys said.

Behind the main chase group most US-riders featured in an even larger second chase group that rode for thirteenth place. Ryan Trebon (LTS/Felt) kept the pace high but he lost ground in the last lap. Together with Polish champion Mariusz Gil (Baboco), newly crowned US champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) almost got back on a fading Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) at the finish line.

"I did a really hard lap with three to go. Then Aernouts brought us forward and we caught up with Albert. That's not bad for a week of celebrating and no sleep," Powers said. He finished fifteenth, two spots ahead of Jonathan Page (Planet Bike). The latter was placed well in the first chase group until he got tangled up with another rider late in the race. "I wasn't at ease in that group but figured that guys like Nys and Albert were also suffering. I told myself to hold on until it split but then that guy came up from under me. There was no space… that was retarded," Page said.

Trebon finished at the back of this group in 22nd place. "I had a horrible start in which I missed my pedal. I felt strong, though, and rode a hard tempo. I wanted to move up and if others profit from that… who cares if you finish fifteenth or twentieth," Trebon said.

James Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) was thirtieth at three minutes from the winner. "I didn't make it to that big group. That wasn't bad luck but bad legs. Maybe because we just flew in on Friday," Driscoll said.

Timothy Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) had a great start but crashed hard. "I don't know what happened but I later heard it was Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant Off-road) who caused the crash. I hurt my hip and shoulder. I'm happy with my start though," Johnson said. He pulled out of the race after the second lap.