Nys defends CrossVegas title

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Belgian champion Sven Nys (Crelan AA Drinks) outlasted his rivals and attacked in the closing lap to take his second consecutive win at the Clif Bar CrossVegas on Wednesday night. Nys finished just ahead of Dutch champion Lars Van der Haar (Giant-Shimano Development) and US champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha Focus) after a tactical race on a grassy 3.2km power course.

“I felt myself really strong the whole race,” Nys said. “I did a few accelerations to close a gap in the beginning of the race, and I say, 'OK, if I can do this on the last lap I can win if I don't make any mistakes.' It went like I hoped, and I'm really happy with the victory over here. It's good for the motivation for the next few races in Europe.”

The race was marred by disrespectful fans along the course who threw beer in the riders' faces each time they passed, causing Van der Haar to tell video broadcasters after the race that he would never return. But Nys prevailed despite the boorish behavior, using his skills to bunny hop the barriers on the final lap and open a gap he would carry to the line.

“It was a little bit more technical here today,” Van der Haar said in the post-race press conference. “They had a sandpit that was pretty dangerous because it got really hard underneath. But other than that the corners were a little bit tighter, the concrete was slippery. It was a hard race.”

Van der Haar, who won the race in 2011, grabbed the hole shot off the start line and pressed the pace early, but the field weathered numerous attacks in the early going and stayed mostly together until about halfway through the race. Telenet Fidea's Thijs Van Amerongen attacked during the fourth of nine laps and got a slight gap over a select lead group, holding his advantage for several circuits until Nys and the chasers reeled him in.

Powers attacked on the penultimate lap but was quickly brought back into a lead group of eight that included most of the favorites, setting up Nys' final successful burst for the line.

“I know Sven pretty well,” Van der Haar said of Nys' final attack. “I know what he does and where he does it. I knew I had to be in the front before the barriers, but he was still able to get across. Then he knew where my two worst corners were, and he took advantage of that.”

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