Meeusen surprise winner of Kalmthout World Cup

Neo-pro Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) netted his first World Cup victory in a fast and tactical race in Kalmthout by beating Belgian champion Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) and Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea) in the sprint finale.

World Cup leader Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) never seemed comfortable in the snow but by limiting his losses and finishing in fifth place the 24-year-old Belgian did more than enough to maintain his lead in the Word Cup.

"It felt great to cross the line this way," Meeusen said. "Last week in Essen was my actual home race but this one comes quite near. Especially when you're finishing it in the sprint against Sven [Nys] as a young lad.

"This is really cool to have this race on my palmares. It's my third win of the season but I didn't expect that I could win a World Cup this year."

Fast starters rewarded on snowy singletrack

The twisting, snow-covered course in Kalmthout made one's start particularly important as it proved to be exceedingly difficult to pass with only one good line for most of the parcours. French champion Francis Mourey (FDJ) profited from that early on as he got the hole shot and opened up a several second lead on the opening lap. Riding second behind Mourey was compatriot Steve Chainel (Bouygues Telecom) who didn't hide which team he's heading in several few weeks. "I protected my second place and didn't go flat out after Mourey," Chainel said of the team tactics.

During the second lap World Cup leader Niels Albert maneuvered past Chainel and halfway through the third lap caught up with Mourey. Meanwhile, Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) crashed and caused a pile-up which greatly benefited the six riders ahead of Vantornout: Mourey, Albert, Meeusen, Nys, Pauwels and Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant Offroad) were the only riders left battling for the win.

From the fourth lap onwards that sextet rode together at the front. Several accelerations and pit stops followed, changing the order of the group but not the gaps between the six riders.

"I always rode in fourth of fifth position, trying to stay out of the picture and see how the others were riding," Meeusen said.

With three laps to go Pauwels, Aernouts and Meeusen profited from an Albert error. Soon afterwards Aernouts dropped his chain when he tried to get past Meeusen. "I told Kevin [Pauwels] to go for it," said Meeusen. "By the way he (Aernouts) was riding he seemed stronger than me and I surely didn't want to help him to the victory at that stage of the race."

Pauwels had a gap but Nys led the chase and brought the sextet back together on the penultimate lap, with Albert most in trouble at the back of the group. Albert eventually got dropped with Aernouts, leaving four riders battling for the win.

And then there were four...

On the snowy, singletrack course being in the lead during the last lap was all important. Nys headed first into the Kalmthout forest ahead of Meeusen, Pauwels and Mourey. The positions remained the same throughout the last lap but Nys didn't gain a single metre on Meeusen.

"I didn't give Nys any distance," Meeusen said. "He often looked back to see if he had a gap and would accelerate. I think he was tired on the last lap and that was the reason I kept on fighting. I rode a perfect last corner and hit the pavement in the right gear."

Nys led out the sprint but Meeusen accelerated around the Belgian champion for the victory, while Pauwels crossed the line in third place two seconds later. "Maybe if the finish line would've been five metres further I could've won," said Nys. "On the other hand my sensations during the race told me that second place was the best result possible."

Mourey settled for fourth, seven seconds behind Meeusen. "I was good but today there were three riders stronger than me," Mourey said.

Albert finished fifth, 30 seconds down on Meeusen, but was happy with the outcome. "On snow and ice this is a good result for me. Now it's time to take a break because I have some hard weeks behind me. I felt that during the closing laps," Albert said.

The US contingent in Kalmthout didn't have a great hour of racing with Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) the top American finisher in 28th place followed by Ryan Trebon (Kona) in 32nd. Both had poor starts and faced difficulty trying to advance.

"There's very little room to move forward," said Page. "If you're lucky and have a good start you can stay there. It's an all-out sprint every time you get to the road but you can only move up two or three spots there."

Trebon ended up in the same situation, riding back in 41st position after one lap. "The start is so important because you can't move up anywhere. It's chaotic at the back. I had to ride into this guy because he kept trying to come inside. I had to teach him a lesson," Trebon said.