Vantornout wins Superprestige finale
Nys claims 10th Superprestige title
Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) soloed to victory today at the final round of the Superprestige series in Middelkerke, Belgium. The win was doubly important for the 28-year-old Belgian as it was his first victory of the season as well as the first big win for his Sunweb-Revor team. Telenet-Fidea teammates Kevin Pauwels and Bart Wellens rounded out the top three, finishing 13 seconds and 21 seconds respectively behind Vantornout.
"Actually this comes as a surprise to me," an emotional Vantornout said. "I was very motivated for this 'cross race on home soil and I made it happen.
"Today I was better than the rest. This makes up for a lot...for everything: a victory in a big 'cross race in front of my home crowd."
Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) had already won his 10th overall Superprestige title at the penultimate round in Hoogstraten last weekend and finished sixth on the day in Middelkerke.
On a demanding course with countless turns and few recuperation zones, the freshest riders took to the front nearing the conclusion of the 2010-2011 'cross season. Early accelerations from Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb-Revor), Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) and Pauwels were neutralized but eventually an 11-rider lead group formed half way throught the race with world champion Stybar being the only non-Belgian.
Vantornout soon seized his opportunity for victory with a decisive acceleration which quickly gapped his rivals. Nys, Pauwels, Vanthourenhout, Stybar, Wellens, Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) formed the chase group behind the surging Vantornout.
With three laps to go Vantornout had more than 20 seconds on the most active chasers Pauwels and Nys. The latter dropped back in the race finale while Wellens moved up. Vantornout kept his composure and brought home the first win of the season for himself and a jubilant team manager Jurgen Mettepenningen.
Behind Vantornout it was Pauwels who won the battle for second place, both in the race and in the overall Superprestige rankings, while his teammate Wellens completed the podium in Middelkerke. It was the first podium result in the Superprestige series for Wellens this season.
"This feels very good," said Wellens. "The first four laps I didn't believe in it but in the end I started going better."
Wellens's young teammate Meeusen was pleased with his fourth place finish. "Last year I was second but then the level wasn't as high," Meeusen said. "This was a very tough course. Maturity and freshness mattered here and I'm very happy with this fourth place."
World champion Zdenek Stybar's fifth place finish was enough for the Czech to jump over Albert into third place in the overall Superprestige rankings and grab an additional 2750 Euro in prize money.
Cousins Dieter and Sven Vanthourenhout finished eighth and ninth on the day and young Jan Denuwelaere (Style & Concept) rounded out the top-10 more than two minutes off the pace of Vantornout.
Jonathan Page (Planet Bike), the sole American at the race, finished 14th.
1 | Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 1:02:31 |
2 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:13 |
3 | Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:21 |
4 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:39 |
5 | Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:47 |
6 | Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | 0:00:59 |
7 | Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus | 0:01:22 |
8 | Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus | 0:01:31 |
9 | Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 0:01:39 |
10 | Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Style & Concept | 0:02:16 |
11 | Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:02:53 |
12 | Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team | 0:03:06 |
13 | Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Style & Concept | 0:03:14 |
14 | Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike | 0:03:20 |
15 | Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team | 0:03:51 |
16 | Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 0:04:18 |
17 | Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:04:42 |
18 | Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus | 0:04:53 |
19 | Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Sunweb - Revor | 0:05:01 |
20 | Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | 0:05:04 |
22 | Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) | 0:05:52 |
23 | Marco Bianco (Ita) | 0:06:21 |
24 | Bart Hofman (Bel) Afdeling Oost-Vlaanderen WBV - VZW | 0:06:38 |
25 | Kevin Cant (Bel) Van Goethem Prorace Cycling Team | 0:07:04 |
26 | Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | -1lap |
27 | Egoitz Murgoitio (Spa) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | -2laps |
1 | Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | 107 | pts |
2 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 92 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 85 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus | 84 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 77 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 62 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 56 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team | 53 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team | 42 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 41 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 40 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus | 30 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Style & Concept | 24 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus | 22 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Style & Concept | 21 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Enrico Franzoi (Ita) BKCP-Powerplus | 20 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 17 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Steve Chainel (Fra) FDJ | 17 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Radomir Simunek Jr. (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus | 14 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 11 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike | 11 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco - Revor Cycling Team | 8 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Petr Dlask (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 5 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
24 | Timothy Johnson (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com | 4 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
25 | Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Sunweb - Revor | 4 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
26 | Jan Verstraeten (Bel) KDL-Trans | 3 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
27 | Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS | 3 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
28 | Sacha Weber (Ger) Stevens Racing Team | 2 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
29 | John Gadret (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | 2 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
30 | Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 2 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
31 | Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team | 1 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Mattia De Marchi, Tsgabu Grmay, Courtney Sherwell, Annabel Fisher debut with Life Time Grand Prix in 2025
Morton, Newsom, Stetina, Stephens, Vakoc absent from main field next year in six-race series across US -
EF Education-EasyPost snap up Madis Mihkels from Intermarché-Wanty
Estonian Classics talent one of the top riders on the market -
2025 Gravel Earth Series expands to include North American Gravel Worlds and new Last Grizzly race
Global gravel series expands prize purse to €37,500 and includes 25 events in 15 countries -
'The UCI have taken control of the colours' - New UCI rules mean teams must avoid all Grand Tour jersey colours in 2025
White colours are now deemed too similar to the Grand Tour best young rider's jersey