Lars van cer Haahr (Rabobank) took his first ever win in an elite World Cup cyclo-cross race when he arrived solo at the finish to win the Caubergcross in his native Netherlands. Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) bounced back from bad luck to take second ahead of German champion Philip Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) while world champion Sven Nys had his race ruined by several mechanicals.

Lars van der Haahr has gradually taken the step into the elite of men's cyclo-cross and today he confirmed his potential by winning the first World Cup race of the season. Racing on home soil in the Caubergcross, van der Haahr rode a clever race to avoid the many mishaps that marred the race for his rivals to finally take a solo win.

Kevin Pauwels was the final rider to stay with the eventual winner but the Belgian dropped his chain and fell back into a tight battle for third with German champion Philip Walsleben. Despite being clearly tired, the Belgian managed to escape from his German rival during the final laps to take a well-earned 2nd place.

The sport's two super stars Sven Nys and Niels Albert both had a race to forget. While the latter was already struggling with the pace early in the race, Nys was riding strongly near the front until two separate mechanicals forced him to abandon the race.

With the win, van der Haahr becomes the first leader of the World Cup series. He will defend his lead over Pauwels and Walsleben already next Saturday when the second race is held in Tabor in the Czech Republic.

Sunny conditions

The 2013-14 Cyclo-cross World Cup kicked off with the Caubergcross on the famous climb in the Dutch city of Valkenburg. Bright sunshine greeted the riders but persistent light rain showers turned the race into a slippery affair.

Pauwels quickly showed his intentions by setting a fast pace from the gun, stringing out the peloton before being overtaken by Francis Mourey (FDJ) on the final half of the first lap. The French champion created a 12-rider selection with Albert being the most notable absentee at the first crossing of the inish line.

Van der Haahr escapes on his own

The peloton briefly split into several groups on the second lap when Nys briefly stumbled but by the time, they crossed the line for the next time, things had come back together with van der Haahr now leading the group.

The Dutchman kept the pace high on the next lap and opened up a gap on his chasers. Pauwels set off in pursuit and midway around the lap, the Belgian had caught the lone leader. Behin, Walsleben, Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games), Bart Aernouts (AA Drink) and Mourey formed a first chase group but Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea), Nys, Thijs van Amerongen (AA Drink) and an improving Albert were not far behind.

Pauwels' chain comes off

With 5 laps to go, disaster struck for Pauwels when the Belgian's chain came off . He managed to get back on his bike before being caught by his chasers but van der Haahr had now opened up a gap on his own.

Walsleben joined Pauwels while Vantornout was now alone a few seconds behind. Nys had struggled with his thigh a bit earlier in the race but the world champion had apparently recovered and quickly passed Vantornout as he was trying to get back in contention for the win.

Bad luck for Nys

Nys and Vantornout were now getting closer to Pauwels and Walsleben. Pauwels slipped and fell back to his two chasers with Vantornout losing contact a little later when he slipped out on a descent.

Nys was the next to be hit by bad luck when his front wheel punctured. He continued to ride for a while but found it difficult to keep up with Pauwels and finally got dropped.

Pauwels in lone pursuit

With two laps to go, Pauwels joined Walsleben but they were still 21 seconds behind van der Haahr. At the midpoint of the penultimate lap, the German champion fell off the pace while Vantornout was trying to get back in podium contention.

Having changed bikes, Nys was now cutting his way through the splintered pack but his race ended a little later when he snapped the chain. From there, the race developed into a pursuit between van der Haahr, Pauwels, Walsleben and Vantornout with the Dutch champion managing to keep his pace all the way to the line to take his first ever World Cup win.

Result:

1. Lars van der Haahr

2. Kevin Pauwels

3. Philipp Walsleben

4. Klaas Vantornout

5. Bart Aernouts

6. Tom Meeusen

7. Thijs van Amerongen

8. Enrico Franzoi

9. Bart Wellens

10. Corne van Kessel