Denuwelaere slides to muddy victory

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The cyclo-cross mudfest in Essen, Belgium was a pure thriller with a sensational finale. Riders tackled the toughest of courses while rain continuously made the course harder. Underdog Jan Denuwelaere (Style & Concept) timed his sprint to perfection but when he got off of the wheel of former cyclo-cross world champion Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), the Czech forced him into the barriers. Denuwelaere crashed, but while sliding he threw himself and his bike towards the line. It was barely enough to finish just ahead of Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea) and world champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) since Stybar was later disqualified.

The win in the fourth round of the Bpost Bank Trofee series is a career highlight for 24-year-old Denuwelaere. It's no secret that the former motocross rider deals well with muddy courses, but in Essen he gave away a demonstration. Halfway the race he joined the leaders and from there he comfortably put them in trouble. That was until he was put into the barriers. The tall Belgian made clear that he would be very disappointed if he wouldn't be declared the winner.

A few minutes later he was declared winner by jury president Wilfred Haan. "Stybar is relegated to fourth place. The photo finish shows that Denuwelaere was the first to cross the line. It wasn't a hard decision," Haan told Sporza.

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Denuwelaere was delighted with the outcome. "Despite knowing I would be in pain, the only thing I could think about was throwing my bike over the line, especially because for once I was battling for the win. What happened? Stybar went to the left, then more. It was too late to brake. It was an illegal move. I'm good in the mud but not every weekend needs to be this tough," Denuwelaere said.

Last year, Denuwelaere captured one of his few wins in a much-discussed sprint against then cyclo-cross world champion Stybar at the small event in Bredene. This time around Stybar didn't allow Denuwelaere to overtake him. The Czech was enjoying mixed emotions after his cyclo-cross debute in his Belgian hometown of Essen. "It's very sad. It was a beautiful 'cross. Jan was very strong. What happened is very sad. I didn’t want to make him crash. I'm glad he's not injured. I moved to the left. I saw him coming but he came much faster than I expected. I tried to balance with the shoulders. I didn't train for the 'cross so I'm very happy that I was able to battle for the win. It's weird that without specific training, I was able to mix in," Stybar told Sporza.

Halfway through the race, the duo started leading the contest in Essen. They took over the command from usual suspects, Albert and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony). Nys won the intermediate sprint after one and a half laps, taking five bonus seconds on series leader Albert. Nys later lost touch with the leaders after riding into a pole and dropping his chain on a 180-degree corner.

Albert faded a little halfway through the race but recovered towards the end. Eventually he finished fourth in the sprint, shaking his head while crossing the line but eventually being put in third place. "Sven and I killed each other in the first laps for the intermediate sprint. I needed a lot of time to recover from that. I should've waited a bit longer and put everything on the finish," Albert said. Despite not having enough left in his tank for the finish, Albert did a great job with regard to the Bpost Bank Trofee series, putting Nys back from 20 seconds to 47 seconds in the general classification.

Third-placed Rob Peeters was pleased about his race although he felt that more was possible. "It was the most exciting race of the season. I tried to start off easy. It took awhile before I joined the leaders. Two laps from the finish, I went flat out. In the forest, I tumbled and that's where I lost it," Peeters told Sporza.

The few spectators who dared to challenge the tough weather circumstances returned home after having witnessed what was arguably the best race of the season. It is expected that the race in Essen will be kept out of the Bpost Bank Trofee series next year. However, today's spectacular contest may change organizer's minds.

The next round in the Bpost Bank Trofee will be held next week at the Spades-cross in Loenhout.

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