Nys wins in the mud

Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) took advantage of a late puncture that slowed main rival Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) to add the fourth round of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy to his impressive palmares. Nys' sixth win at the C1 GP Rouwmoer in Essen, Belgium was his ninth victory of the 2010-2011 season.

“I'm quite surprised to win here. This time the second strongest rider in the race won. Niels was the strongest out there but mechanicals are part of the sport. It must be frustrating for him,” Nys said with honesty.

Albert looked strong and had a clear lead but then flatted during the final lap as he exited a deep mud section. He banged his hand on his handlebars in frustration and then was quickly overtaken by Nys, Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) and Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea).

“I had a great chance of victory, I was leading the race by 100 metres. I had energy left to go full gas for at least one more lap but 20 metres after the pit I must've hit a stone with my rear wheel...,” Albert said, cursing his bad luck.

Nys and Vantornout both tried accelerations in the final lap and managed to drop Pauwels. A final ride through the sand section near the finish line proved fatal for Vantornout. He bobbled but came back just before the final corner. However Nys got a slight gap when he started his sprint, proving he clearly had the most left in his legs.

Vantornout admitted Nys was stronger than him in the final lap. “The final sprint was no longer a sprint. I rode mine just before the final corner to come back on Nys after my mistake in the sand,” Vantornout said.

“In the sand section I wasn't going flat out because it was impossible to get passed by someone there. It was a matter of being the first at the final corner. Today I've been very lucky because I was more focused on Kevin Pauwels than on the victory. In the end I'm doing a great job for the general classification,” Nys said.

Pauwels was third at nine seconds, with Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) fourth and a frustrated and angry Albert fifth at 42 seconds.

A fast start from Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea) created a ten-man front group after the first lap. Albert missed his start and was in 19th position after the early corners. After the first lap he trailed the ten leaders by eight seconds. Nys kept the pace high up front in order to keep Albert at a distance but also to win the bonus points at the intermediate sprint after two laps. Nys won the sprint taking home three additional points, while Pauwels grabbed two points ahead of team-mate Wellens. After the sprint those three led the race for one and a half laps but they couldn't stop Albert’s comeback. He bridged up with the leaders together with Vantornout, Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb-Revor) and Bart Aernouts (Rabo-Giant Offroad).

Vanthourenhout went to the front and behind him Nys wasn't planning to chase his friend down. One lap later Vanthourenhout had 11 seconds on the six chasers but once Albert led the chase it all came back together.

Albert kept going full gas and at the start of the first lap only Nys, Pauwels and Vantornout were able to hold onto his wheel. Vantornout moved up into second place behind leader Albert but halfway through the lap, Vantornout cracked and lost a few bike lengths separated. Albert’s puncture then changed everything and as he struggled with a flat tyre, Nys went on to be the best of the three chasers.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet1:00:21
2Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor0:00:05
3Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:00:08
4Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:00:28
5Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus0:00:42
6Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor0:00:50
7Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team0:01:23
8Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road TeamRow 7 - Cell 2
9Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:01:24
10Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling TeamRow 9 - Cell 2
11Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:01:58
12Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus0:02:00
13Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team0:02:04
14Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus0:02:18
15Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team0:02:21
16Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS0:02:29
17Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:02:46
18Radomir Simunek Jr. (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus0:02:49
19Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team0:03:18
20Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling TeamRow 19 - Cell 2
21Marco Bianco (Ita)0:03:44
22Kevin Cant (Bel)0:04:07
23Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team0:04:17
24Bart Hofman (Bel)0:05:37
25Stijn Huys (Bel)0:06:12
26Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) Van Goethem - Prorace0:06:42
-2lapsMagnus Darvell (Swe)Row 26 - Cell 2
-5lapsCandelas Caballero (Spa)Row 27 - Cell 2
-5lapsMartin Zlámalík (Cze) Sunweb - RevorRow 28 - Cell 2
-5lapsJan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendement Hypo Cycling TeamRow 29 - Cell 2
-5lapsJonathan Page (USA) Planet BikeRow 30 - Cell 2
-5lapsJan Verstraeten (Bel) KDL-TransRow 31 - Cell 2
-5lapsMitchell Huenders (Ned) BKCP-PowerplusRow 32 - Cell 2
-5lapsRikke Dijkxhoorn (Ned) Van Vliet EBH ElshofRow 33 - Cell 2
-5lapsPhilipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-PowerplusRow 34 - Cell 2
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Intermediate sprint
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet3pts
2Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team2Row 1 - Cell 3
3Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team1Row 2 - Cell 3
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Fastest lap
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:07:17
2Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet0:07:18
3Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team0:07:19
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Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee Veldrijden Classification after four rounds
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team87pts
2Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet77Row 1 - Cell 3
3Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team70Row 2 - Cell 3
4Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team65Row 3 - Cell 3
5Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor62Row 4 - Cell 3
6Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team60Row 5 - Cell 3
7Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus55Row 6 - Cell 3
8Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team49Row 7 - Cell 3
9Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus44Row 8 - Cell 3
9Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team44Row 9 - Cell 3
11Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team35Row 10 - Cell 3
12Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus32Row 11 - Cell 3
13Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor27Row 12 - Cell 3
14Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team24Row 13 - Cell 3
15Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendement Hypo Cycling Team20Row 14 - Cell 3
16Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team19Row 15 - Cell 3
17Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus18Row 16 - Cell 3
18Radomir Simunek Jr. (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus16Row 17 - Cell 3
19Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team15Row 18 - Cell 3
20Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team14Row 19 - Cell 3
21Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ13Row 20 - Cell 3
22Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS11Row 21 - Cell 3
23Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team9Row 22 - Cell 3
24Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles8Row 23 - Cell 3
24Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team8Row 24 - Cell 3
26Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team6Row 25 - Cell 3
27Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor3Row 26 - Cell 3
27Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling Team3Row 27 - Cell 3
29Romain Villa (Fra)2Row 28 - Cell 3
29Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike2Row 29 - Cell 3
31Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned)1Row 30 - Cell 3
31Marco Bianco (Ita)1Row 31 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint classification
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet8pts
2Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team6Row 1 - Cell 3
3Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team5Row 2 - Cell 3
4Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor2Row 3 - Cell 3
4Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team2Row 4 - Cell 3
6Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team1Row 5 - Cell 3

 

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