Pauwels outsprints Stybar in Zolder

Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) beat world champion Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step Team) in a two-man sprint at the end of the sixth round of the World Cup in Zolder, Belgium, on Monday. Thanks to his third World Cup victory of the year, Pauwels overtook Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) as leader in the cyclo-cross World Cup.

"I knew that my form was good, but [before this weekend] I hadn't been on the podium for a few weeks," Pauwels said.

The final sprint started right after Stybar exited the muddy stretch next to the car racing circuit in Zolder. Nys was part of the lead group that headed for the sprint, too, but the experienced Belgian - wearing number 13 - slid out in the last corner. "It's a pity because I still had power for the sprint. I switched bikes in the last lap to have an 11 on the big ring for the sprint, just like I did in the first lap. I'll have to keep fighting until the last World Cup round," Nys said.

As Nys hit the deck when cornering on to the start-finish road, it was Pauwels who was glued Stybar's wheel. "Stybar started the sprint right away, so I had no other option then going full gas. I went deep in the sprint, but I had something left in my tank," Pauwels said.

Stybar was going full gas, but he didn't succeed in shaking off Pauwels. A clearly frustrated Stybar hit his handlebars when crossing the line.

"Of course, I would've loved to win but on Friday in Diegem, I was eighth and not feeling well, and now I was just sprinting for the victory, so I can't complain," Stybar said.

A not particularly spectacular second half of the race preceded the final sprint. The lead group with Nys, Pauwels and Stybar was formed during the fourth of nine laps. Mistakes at the back of the initially larger lead group cost Lars Boom (Rabobank), Steve Chainel (FDJ) and Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) their spots up front.

In the main chase group, national champions Boom and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) provided most of the opposition, but halfway through the race, they were trailing the leaders by 15 seconds - too much to overcome on the muddy but fast course in Zolder.

The three leaders tested their legs on the muddy off-camber climb and the steep run-up, but none of these punches caused major damage. "The 'cross wasn't really that hard. Sometimes it was full gas, but then the pace dropped again; it was interval training. I expected that the group would explode in the last lap, on the climb or on the descent, but that didn't happen," Pauwels said.

Nys salvaged his podium spot and half a minute behind Pauwels, it was his teammate Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) who was best of the rest. Vantornout out sprinted Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) and Wellens. Last year's winner Boom was seventh at 48 seconds. "I'm happy. Yesterday I trained three and a half hours, and I felt that a bit today. I made one mistake that probably cost me a podium spot," a mud-clad Boom told Cyclingnews at the finish line.

Albert, Chainel and Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus) completed the top-10, all finishing within one minute of winner Pauwels.

Jonathan Page (Planetbike) finished 25th at nearly two minutes from Pauwels. Timothy Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) finished a disappointing 37th place. British rider Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) was three spots behind Johnson.

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