Meeusen wins Superprestige in Ruddervoorde

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Telenet-Fidea rider Tom Meeusen won a hard-fought third Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde, Belgium, on Sunday, out-sprinting Mathieu van der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus) and Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games). Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink) finished fourth in the sprint after a fast race on a dry course.

"I was having a great time. The level was high so I had even more fun, rode even closer on the wheels, riding narrow lines," an excited Meeusen said in the post-race interview tent. "Ruddervoorde is quite a big race and I've never won here. I wanted to score here and I managed to do so."

Van der Poel becomes the sole leader in the overall standings, overtaking former leaders Nys and Lars van der Haar (Giant-Shimeano). Van der Haar had to overcome a mid-race tangle with Telenet's Corné van Kessel to salvage his position in the rankings, and after finishing fifth he is now third overall.

Van der Poel was pleased with his performance although he missed a chance to do better. "More was possible. I wanted to lead the group when entering the sand section but I made a mistake and ended up riding in third place. That was too far to have a chance in the sprint. Nevertheless I'm pleased that I'm the new leader. It's a nice bonus," Van der Poel told Cyclingnews.

The win from Meeusen came after a fast and tactical race on the meadow with artificial hills and the cobbled road of the Pyfferoen family in Ruddervoorde. Meeusen was already present in the early lead group which also included Van der Haar and Vantornout.

During the fourth of ten laps Nys closed the gap on the leaders. The Belgian champion was followed by Jens Adams (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace), Corné van Kessel (Telenet-Fidea) and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games). The large lead group of eight riders battled each other for several laps without creating major damage. The eight men were to battle for the win in the final lap.

"The group was too big for me," Nys said. "If you want to win here you need to be aggressive enough to hold your ground. I lacked that today." In the final laps Nys sat at the back of the group, saving his energy for a last lap surge to the front but he only managed to move up to fourth place.

By the time Nys made his move, Meeusen was already riding his lap-long sprint. At first he was helped by a bobble from Vantornout but then a small mistake through the sand section put the Sunweb rider back into contention. "I was praying that I would not make a mistake. I made a mistake. Luckily I had enough left in my tank to ride the sprint," Meeusen said.

Vantornout didn't have an acceleration left in his legs to repeat his victory from last year. "It's the course that ruined it for me. I'm not a super technical rider. I felt really strong though. I'm pleased that I'm consequently battling for the win," Vantornout told Cyclingnews.

The next round of the Superprestige series is held next week in Asper-Gavere.

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