2000 Results Results World Cup standings Past winners
It was an all-Belgian affair in the second round of the Cyclo-cross World Cup held in Igorre, Spain, with Sven Nijs recording his second successive victory in the competition ahead of compatriots Bart Wellens, Erwin Vervecken and Mario De Clercq. Nijs therefore improved his lead in the World Cup standings with 120 points compared with Wellens' 100.
The absence of the Italian and French "A" teams made life a little easier for the usually dominant Belgians and Dutch. Last year's winner Daniele Pontoni was not present after a conflict between him, the Italian selector and the UCI. This did not disturb the Belgians who set a strong pace from the start, with Mario De Clercq being prominent, along with Vervecken and Tom Vannoppen.
The only Dutchman who could sustain the pace was Richard Groenendaal, but he could only follow as Nijs opened up a gap on the rest about halfway through the race. Nijs increased his advantage to nearly a minute, with Bart Wellens enjoying a better second half of the race to eventually finish 2nd. Erwin Vervecken was third, 1'26 behind Nijs.
Round 3 of the World Cup, the GP de Belgique, is scheduled for December 16 in Wortegem.
1 Sven Nijs (Bel) 1.02.42 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) 0.51 3 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1.26 4 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 1.36 5 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 2.05 6 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 2.48 7 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 3.35 8 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 3.55 9 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) 4.13 10 Beat Wabel (Swi) 4.23 11 Maarten Nijland (Ned) 4.36 12 David Seco (Spa) 4.53 13 David Derepas (Fra) 4.58 14 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 5.04 15 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 5.07 16 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 5.44 17 Michael Baumgartner (Swi) 6.06 18 Francis Mourey (Fra) 6.55 19 Ondrej Lukes (Cze) 7.21 20 Wim De Vos (Ned) 1 lap Nations 1 Belgium 12 pts 2 Netherlands 9 3 Czech Republic 8 4 France 7 8 Switzerland 6
1 Sven Nijs (Bel) 120 pts 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) 100 3 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 75 4 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 60 5 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 56 6 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) 52 7 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 47 7 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 47 9 Wim De Vos (Ned) 46 10 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 45 10 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 45 12 Maarten Nijland (Ned) 44 13 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 43 14 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 31 15 David Derepas (Fra) 29 16 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 25 17 Beat Wabel (Swi) 22 17 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 22 19 David Seco (Spa) 19 20 Tomas Trunschka (Cze) 18 21 John Gadret (Fra) 15 22 Michael Baumgartner (Swi) 14 22 Igor Tavella (Ita) 14 24 Francis Mourey (Fra) 13 24 Jan Ramsauer (Swi) 13 26 Ondrej Lukes (Cze) 12 26 Vaclaf Metlicka (Svk) 12 28 Stefano Toffoletti (Ita) 10 29 Jonathan Page (USA) 8 30 Martino Fruet (Ita) 7 31 Valeriano Vandelli (Ita) 6 32 David Kasek (Cze) 5 33 Robert Glajza (Svk) 4 34 Pawel Cierpikowski (Pol) 3 35 Piotr Wysmyk (Pol) 2 36 David Collins (Gbr) 1
2000 Daniele Pontoni