Pauwels strikes back to win Namur World Cup

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The spectacular World Cup course up and around the citadel of Namur, Belgium proved to be the perfect battleground for Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor). On its slippery slopes, a mud-covered Pauwels easily held off Belgian champion Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) and world champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) to grab his third win of the season.

During the first laps, Pauwels was joined by Francis Mourey (FDJ-Big Mat), but the Frenchman punctured and dropped back, eventually finishing fourth. Pauwels steadily clocked the fastest lap times and held off a comeback from Albert.

"It was a tough course, and that's usually not my thing, but during the second lap, I took over the command and rode my own pace," said Pauwels. "I noticed I got a gap. It's very comfortable to ride around here at your own pace. In the closing laps, I was even able to take my foot of the gas and consolidate my lead."

With his second World Cup victory of the season, Pauwels moves back into contention for the overall win of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. Albert still leads the series, but both Pauwels and Nys moved back to within a 15-point margin of the world champion.

"There are three [World Cup] courses left [in Zolder, Rome and Hoogerheide] that should suit me well. So things are looking good," Pauwels said.

Albert rode most of the race alone in second place, holding off a late race surge from Nys. Things went wrong in the bell lap, when a flat tyre cost the world champion a lot of time. Nys seized his chance and blasted past Albert in the final metres. "In the off-camber descent, I punctured, and the only thing I could do was curse," said Albert. "I lost a lot of time on Sven and eventually I ran out of gas. I could put the fire in my velo, but it doesn't burn well."

"The World Cup standings? I lost 10 points in the last lap, but it's a classification I would like to win because I rate it higher than the rest," said Albert, "and because it's international, but I'd be happy with [winning] any of the series."

Albert's bad luck was good fortune for Nys. The latter needed time before he was able to shake off his rivals for third place, and eventually he was also able to snatch second place. "There wasn't much to do against Kevin today, but I expected more from this race," said Nys. "Today I'm lucky while yesterday [in Essen] was the other way around. I'm happy that I rode at top level for so long, but now I feel like the others gained ground on me."

Despite having a good start, Mourey had to settle for fourth place, just off the all-Belgian podium in Namur. "I punctured twice during the third lap," said Mourey. "That's 'cross. I don't know if I would've been able to keep up with Kevin, but Niels was within my reach. Fourth isn't bad either," Mourey told Cyclingnews at the finish line in Namur.

Further back, American Jonathan Page bounced back from a poor start to finish in a strong 15th place, getting himself a starting spot for the cyclo-cross world championships in Louisville, Kentucky, next month.

The next World Cup round will be held in Zolder, Belgium on Wednesday.

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