Nys wins in the mud

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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.

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