One day after he broke a victory drought that has lasted for more than a year, Sven Nys made it two in a row by winning one of classics on the cyclo-cross calendar, the World Cup race in the Koksijde sand. In a hugely exciting duel with World Cup leader Wout van Aert, it came down to a two-rider sprint where the veteran turned out to be the strongest. World champion Mathieu van der Poel was a distant third in his comeback race while second place was enough for van Aert to defend his overall World Cup lead.

 

It took more than a year for Sven Nys to break the victory drought that has lasted since last year’s Jaarmarktcross in Niel. History shows that it often just takes a single win to get the ball rolling and it seems that the king of cyclo-cross is now back to his best as he added today’s World Cup race in Koksijde to yesterday’s triumph.

 

The race in the sand is one of the big classics on the cyclo-cross calendar and has always been one that suited Nys. With wet and muddy conditions making the race even harder, he had done nothing to hide that he would love to win the race for a final time before he retires at the end of the year but after yesterday’s effort, he admitted that he was unlikely to be at his best. At the same time, many were still questioning whether he could beat the dominant Wout van Aert who has won virtually every major race this year and was absent yesterday.

 

However, Nys proved that he is able to beat the youngster in a direct battle as the race in the sand came down to a huge duel between the pair that turned out to be in a class of its own. In the early part of the race, Nys had returned to his bad habit of having a slow start and he saw van Aert and world champion Mathieu van der Poel who was making his long-awaited comeback ride away in the first few laps.

 

However, Nys slowly got up to speed and edged closer to the leading pair. Sensing the veteran’s comeback, van Aert hit the front and distanced van der Poel in the sand. He quickly got a solid gap and it briefly looked like it would be another dominant van Aert showing as it has been so often in 2015.

 

Nys refused to give up though and during the third lap he made it back to van Aert. From there, it was clear that the pair was stronger than the rest as they constantly increased their advantage over a constantly changing nearest chase group.

 

What followed was a hugely exciting battle where Nys and van Aert constantly traded blows but no one was able to make a decisive gap. Both had to let their rival go on certain occasions but the pair was still together with three laps to go.

 

Moments later, van Aert was set back by a puncture. Luckily it happened close to the pit zone and he only lost a few seconds. However, Nys grabbed the opportunity and van Aert had to spend a lot of energy and take big risks to make it back to the veteran. He made the junction just before the start of the penultimate lap.

 

Nys didn’t want to give him any room to recover and tried to put him under pressure. However, the pair stayed together and it would all come down to the final lap.

 

Van Aert was not done yet and set the pace for most of the time, with Nys staying glued to his wheel. The veteran made a failed attempt at the halfway point of the lap but it was soon apparent that it would come down to a sprint. Nys turned out to be the strongest in the final muddy section where he passed van Aert, meaning that he hit the finishing straight in first position. Van Aert had no response and as he sat up, Nys had plenty of time to celebrate his second consecutive win.

 

Further back, Kevin Pauwels had briefly escaped and looked like he would take third but he faded in the final two laps. Instead, it was van der Poel who came back from a mid-race crisis and rode to third in what was a hugely successful comeback.

 

The win allowed Nys to move into second in the overall World Cup standings and he is now just 5 points behind van Aert. The next round will be held in Namur on December 20. The next major race on the calendar is next Sunday’s Bpost Bank Trofee race in Hamme.*

 

How it unfolded:

Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel clearly motivated from the start and the pair hit the front as soon as the flag was dropped. Laurens Sweeck took over as they hit the sand, with Sven Nys and Kevin Paiwels also riding attentively near the front.

 

Van der Poel showed his intentions as he passed Sweeck and quickly got a gap. Sweeck and van Aert led the chase and unsurprisingly, the latter turned out to be the strongest as he rejoined the world champion and went straight to the front.  A little later Sweeck, Lars van der Haar and Corne van Kessel also made the junction, making it a front quintet at the end of the first lap. Nys was 8 seconds behind in 8th.

 

As they started the second lap, van der Haar hit the front. Van der Poel was glued to his wheel but Sweeck, van Aert and van Kessel had to let the pair go. Again van Aert could make up for his mistake and he quickly made it back to the leaders where van der Poel was constantly applying the pressure.

 

Van der Haar crashed out of the front group and dropped back to Tom Meeusen. The pair was passed by Nys who was now the nearest chaser of the two youngsters in front.

 

With Nys approaching from behind, van Aert took over the pace-setting and he slowly distanced van der Poel in the sand.  However, it was eveident that Nys was extremely strong and he soon passed van der Poel while slowly approaching the lone leader. He made the junction soon after to make it a front duo. Further back, van der Poel was caught by van der Haar, van Kessel and Jullien Taramarcaz while Meeusen was set back by a crash. More riders made it back and a bigger group formed behind the front duo.

 

With five laps to go, van Aert and Nys led the big chase group by 13 seconds and the World Cup leader was not looking back. He set the pace for most of the lap but Nys stayed glued to his wheel until he took over in the final part. Meanwhile, Taramarcaz briefly split the chase group with a solid acceleration.

 

At the end of the lap, the pair had extended their advantage to 28 seconds over the chasing group which had grown significantly again and now contained Pauwels, van der Haar, Meeusen, Sweeck, Taramarcaz, Vanthourenhout, van Kessel, van der Poel and Vantornout. Pauwels had taken over the pace-setting fromTaramarcaz and as they started the next lap, he went full gas. Van der Haar and Meeusen could follow initially but soon had to surrender.

 

In the front duo, van Aert ws again putting Nys under pressure and the veteran lost a bit of ground twice. However, he always managed to get back and as they hit the finishing straight with 3 laps to go, they were still together. Van Aert finally slowed down a bit and let Nys take over the pace-setting. Pauwels was the nearest chasers at 26 seconds, followed by Meeusen at 32 seconds, van der Haar at 35 seconds and Sweeck at 43 seconds. Van der Poel led a bigger group that also included Taramarcaz and van Kessel.

 

Disaster struck for van Aert as they started the next lap. The youngster suffered a puncture and even though it happened close to the pit, it cost him some time. Nys quickly grabbed the opportunity and tried to maintain his advantage. Meanwhile, Pauwels was extended his advantage over van der Haar and Meeusen.

 

For a long time, the distance between van Aert and Nys was relatively unchanged and van Aert had to take risks to slowly get closer. He accomplished his mission as he made the junction just after the start of the penultimate lap but the effort had clearly cost a lot of energy. Meanwhile, Sweeck and Meeusen had almost rejoined Pauwels and the trio gathered in the early part of the next lap. Van der Poel was next, followed by van der Haar and the duo of Thijs van Amerongen and van Kessel. Further back, Vanthourenhout crashed out of the race.

 

Nys didn’t want to give van Aert any chance to recover so he hit the gas as they hit the difficult section. Van Aert had to let the veteran go on numerous occasions but he always managed to get back. Further back, a bigger chase group had been formed as van der Poels and van der Haar rejoined the three nearest chasers. Van der Poel soon moved to the front and slowly distanced van der Haar and Pauwels.

 

Van Aert hit the front just before they started the final lap. Van der Poel was next at 46 seconds as he had distanced Sweeck and Meeusen by 8 seconds, with van der Haar following at 1.01 and Pauwels at 1.05.

 

Van Aert set a brutal pace in the final lap but Nys never gave him an inch. In the hugely exciting battle, the veteran looked composed and seemed to have things under control. Close to the finish, he hit the front, making what he hoped would be the decisive attack. However, he made a mistake and van Aert was soon back on the front.

 

However, in the final muddy section, Nys made another huge acceleration and managed to pass van Aert. He hit the finishing straight in first position and launched his sprint immediately. Clearly fatigued, van Aert didn’t even try to respond, allowing the veteran to take his second win in a row. Van der Poel held off a late comeback from van der Haar to take third while Sweeck completed the top 5.

 

Result:

1. Sven Nys 1.02.39

2. Wout van Aert +0.04

3. Mathieu van der Poel +1.06

4. Lars van der Haar +1.12

5. Laurens Sweeck +1.19

6. Tom Meeusen +1.31

7. Toon Aerts +1.34

8. Kevin Pauwels +1.46

9. Corne van Kessel +2.00

10. Julien Taramarcaz +2.06

 

Overall standings:

1. Wout van Aert 220

2. Sven Nys 215

3. Lars van der Haar195

4. Kevin Pauwels 161

5. Laurens Sweeck 145

6. Julien Taramarcaz 137

7. Corne van Kessel 136