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Cyclo-Cross World Cup #5 - CDM
Igorre, Spain, December 7, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Race
Nys grabs fourth Basque World Cup victory
By Brecht Decaluwé
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Sven Nys of Team Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner won the World Cup's fifth round in Igorre, Spain. The Belgian Champion and Klaas Vantornout accelerated away halfway into the race from a group of four riders that included Erwin Vervecken and Thijs Al. The duo was evenly matched in the mud, but a crash from Vantornout in the penultimate lap resulted in a definitive gap and a fourth victory in Igorre for Nys.
The Belgians dominated the Spanish World Cup event by placing five riders in the top-five. Further back, the crowd that had showed up in reasonable numbers spotted Constantino Zaballa as the first local rider in twelfth position. Zaballa finished just ahead of American Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) who racked up his best World Cup result of the season before heading back to the USA for its national championships.
Czech Champion Stybar didn't do a great job in defending his second place in the World Cup classification by finishing sixth in Igorre. He now drops back to third place behind Nys and Bart Wellens. It is the second World Cup victory of the season for Nys.
Just like other years, Nys has been combining a relatively easy part of the season with a two-week training trip on Mallorca, Spain. Despite those training efforts that were focused on speed rather than power Nys explained that he felt like riding the perfect cyclo-cross race in Igorre."Before the race I was mainly focused on doing a good job in the World Cup classification but it turned out that I had recovered that well from my training efforts that I could win here," Nys said to Sporza.
The Belgian champion led the race from the second lap and set a pace that was simply too fast for his rivals. "Actually, I didn't need any acceleration today, although I had one ready for the last lap to get rid of Vantornout. In the end I didn't need it, he started to make mistakes as I put him under pressure," Nys explained. Thanks to his victory Nys now comfortably leads the World Cup classification with a huge gap over Bart Wellens.
How it unfolded
Runner-up Vantornout had a great start in the Basque country, Spain and showed great skills while powering through the Spanish mud, putting everybody under pressure. During the second lap Nys took over the lead while Vantornout had to gasp for breath. Eventually a group of four leaders was formed featuring Nys, Vantornout, Vervecken and fast starter Thijs Al.
Vantornout lost contact with the lead group when he entered the pit and couldn't find a fresh bike. "I was extremely strong on this tough course but due to a mistake in the pit I was forced to wait for my new bike for 10 seconds," Vantornout said to Sporza. "No offense to the pit crew since it is extremely hectic out there."
As a result of the pit mishap Nys ended up leading the race on his own. Vervecken and Al couldn't close the gap and eventually it was Vantornout who came back and bridged up to Nys by himself. Nys allowed Vantornout to sit on his wheel until the penultimate lap in which Vantornout suddenly slipped and crashed in the mud, a deciding moment of the race. Vantornout was disappointed that he missed out on winning his career's first World Cup.
"It took a lot of effort to come back on Nys after that pit incident but two laps before the end I crashed and then it was over," Vantornout said. "I lost the good rhythm and if Nys gets 100 meters he's gone. Sometimes I'm a bit unlucky in the World Cup but this second place does please me a lot. Week after week I'm showing that my place is among the best cyclo-cross riders."
Third placed Erwin Vervecken was keen on coming back to the two leaders in the ultimate laps but in the end the gap on Nys and Vantornout proved to be too big for the experienced Belgian. "This course didn't suit me completely and thus I'm very satisfied with my third place. During the last lap I punctured while Wellens was coming back; this is a good result," Vervecken said.
The UCI's World Cup now heads to Nommay, France where Sven Nys will defend his comfortable lead over Bart Wellens and Zdenek Stybar.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner) at the front of the lead group in Igorre, Spain.
- Erwin Vervecken (Fidea Cycling Team) begins to descend in front of Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb Pro Job ) and World Cup leader Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner).
- Erwin Vervecken (Fidea Cycling Team) runs up a slippery ascent in Igorre.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner) puts his running skills to the test on an extremely muddy circuit at Igorre, Spain.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner) wears the white skinsuit of World Cup leader.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner) shoulders his bike ahead of Thijs Als and Erwin Vervecken (Fidea Cycling Team).
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner) wins his for the fourth time at the Igorre, Spain World Cup.
- Thijs Als runs with a clean bike on his way to seventh place.
- Thijs Als is covered in mud at the very sloppy Igorre, Spain World Cup venue.
Results
1 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner 1.06.36 2 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Pro Job 0.16 3 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.27 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.36 5 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 1.10 6 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 1.37 7 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink - BeOne 1.39 8 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux 2.12 9 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 2.21 10 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Pro Job 2.54 11 Radomir Simunek (Cze) Palmans Cras 3.20 12 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) La-Mss 3.27 13 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 3.37 14 Petr Dlask (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 3.50 15 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 3.55 16 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 4.03 17 Martin Bína (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 4.22 18 Steve Chainel (Fra) Auber 93 5.06 19 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Drink - Be One 5.33 20 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Prodoli Racing Team 5.40 21 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tonissteiner 5.49 22 Julien Belgy (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5.54 23 Christian Heule (Swi) Rendementhypo Cycling Team 6.05 24 Milan Barenyi (Svk) CK ŽP Šport As 6.11 25 Wilant van Gils (Ned) Pro Cycling Team ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida 6.31 26 Isaac Suarez Fernandez (Spa) 6.43 27 Jonathan Lopez (Fra) 7.01 28 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) 7.35 One lap behind 29 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) 30 Mariusz Gil (Pol) Two laps behind 31 Oscar Vazquez Crespo (Spa) 32 Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) Three laps behind 33 Roy Van Heeswijk (Ned) 34 Martin Haring (Svk) 35 Jose Antonio Diez Arriola (Spa) 36 Robert Glajza (Svk) Four laps behind 37 David Juarez Alday (Spa) DNF Egoitz Murgoitio Rekalde (Spa) DNF Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) DNF Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) DNF Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom DNF Jozef Palcak (Svk)
World Cup standings after five rounds 1 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 355 pts 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 279 3 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 273 4 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 273 5 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 243 6 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans - Cras 220 7 Radomír imunek (Cze) Palmans - Cras 218 8 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 212 9 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 207 10 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink - BeOne 205 11 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 197 12 Martin Bína (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 191 13 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Drink - Be One 179 14 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux 178 15 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 174 16 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 166 17 Christian Heule (Swi) Rendementhypo Cycling Team 164 18 Petr Dlask (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 157 19 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 151 20 Wilant van Gils (Ned) Pro Cycling Team ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida 142 21 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 132 22 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Prodoli Racing Team 127 23 Simon Zahner (Swi) Bürgis Cycling Team 108 24 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 103 25 Eddy van IJzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink - BeOne 98 26 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) Exe Jeans 94 27 Marco Bianco (Ita) L´Arcobaleno Carraro Team 86 28 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 82 29 Jonathan Lopez (Fra) V.C.La Pomme Marseille 81 30 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Liquigas 79 31 Johannes Sickmueller (Ger) 73 32 Vladimír Kyzivát (Cze) Johnson Controls A MB 73 33 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans - Cras 71 34 Jaroslav Kulhavý (Cze) Michelin - Specialized MTB Team 70 35 Fabio Ursi (Ita) Centro Sportivo Esercito 67 36 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Van Vliet EBH Elshof 65 37 Milan Barenyi (Svk) CK P port As 64 38 Vaclav Metlicka (Svk) Team Kral R.C. Pfeil Hof E.V 61 39 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Povoa Cycling Club 60 40 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) Het Snelle Wiel 60 41 Roy Van Heeswijk (Ned) 59 42 Steve Chainel (Fra) Auber 93 57 43 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Selle Italia Guerciotti Elite 55 44 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach 53 45 Joachim Parbo (Den) CCV Cyclo Cross Team 42 46 Rafael Visinelli (Ita) Gruppo Sportivo Forestale 39 47 Pirmin Lang (Swi) Delta Elite Team 36 48 Gusty Bausch (Lux) VC Diekirch 36 49 Oscar Vazquez Crespo (Spa) Aquagest Club Ciclista 35 50 Robert Glajza (Svk) CK P port A.S. Podbrezová 35 51 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Palmans - Cras 32 52 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles 32 53 David Káek (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 31 54 Julien Belgy (Fra) Bouygues Télécom 29 55 Geoffrey Clochez (Fra) Bleus de France 28 56 Paul Voss (Ger) Team 3C-Gruppe 27 57 Isaac Suarez Fernandez (Spa) 25 58 Aurelien Duval (Fra) Française Des Jeux 25 59 Martin Haring (Svk) Ck p port Podbrezová 25 60 René Birkenfeld (Ger) Stevens Racing Team 25 61 David Derepas (Fra) Groupe Gobert.Com.Ct 23 62 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez 21 63 Jempy Drucker (Lux) Fidea Cycling Team 20 64 Magnus Darvell (Swe) Rietumu Bank-Riga 18 65 José Antonio Díez Arriola (Spa) Construcciones Navajeda 16 66 Alessandro Gambino (Ita) Gruppo Sportivo Esercito 16 67 Luká Kloucek (Cze) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 15 68 David Juarez Alday (Spa) Ibaigane Opel 14 69 Florian Le Corre (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 13 70 Andre Sutton (Can) Hardcore Cycling Club 13 71 Jody Crawforth (GBr) Arctic Premier 10 72 Peter Presslauer (Aut) Volksbank - Corratec 10 73 Gerald Hauer (Aut) 6 74 Adam Myerson (USA) Time Pro Cycling 5 75 Thomas Puhmer (Aut) Team Sport Nora 3 76 Stefano Boggia (Ita) GS Daccordi 2 77 Julien Laidoun (Fra) SCO Dijon 1
