Nys claims first victory on new Trek

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In front of massive crowds, home rider and world champion Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink) kicked off the New Year with a very convincing victory in his eponymous GP Sven Nys, in Baal, Belgium. In dry weather conditions Nys outclassed his rivals with a race-long solo ride on his brand new Trek during the sixth round of the Bpost Bank cyclo-cross trophy.

"It's my twelfth victory here but it was certainly not the easiest of all. I was very nervous to debute my new bike in front of these big crowds who all came out to see me ride. Even when I was leading by fifty seconds I was making mistakes because I was nervous," Nys told Sporza.

In recent races Nys has been opting to take control of the race right from the start. At first Rob Peeters (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) was able to come back - on Nys' old Colnago bike - but he got dropped in the third lap. "I think he sort of let me come back. On the long climb there was no way to keep up," Peeters said after his first race in new team colours.

Nys put in about ten seconds on his rivals in each lap, making things look easy. A minor mistake in the last lap did not take much away from his lead, and Nys crossed the finish line with his new Trek Boone 9 bike raised in the air and giving it a welcome kiss.

Czech champion Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) rode a solid race and finished as runner-up at 51 seconds from winner Nys, 6 seconds ahead of Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus). For Stybar it was his last of six cyclo-cross races in Belgium. There's still a chance he'll ride the cyclo-cross world championships but that will be a list-minute decision Stybar said. "I had my best legs of the six races today. I lose a lot of energy to move up in the start. I need two laps to recover from that. After the exhibition of Sven Nys my second place feels like a victory. It's his championships race here and he's in top form," Stybar said.

Nys also picked up 15 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in the second lap with Albert taking none. In the overall standings of the Bpost Bank cyclo-cross trophy Nys extended his lead over Albert to 2:57. With only two rounds on fast courses left, the overall win for Nys seems more than secured.

Albert only got going during the second half of the race. He closed the gap to Peeters with Stybar on his wheel. One lap later Stybar attacked, leaving Peeters and Albert behind. In the last lap Albert easily got rid of Peeters. "I got off to a reasonable start, riding in seventh position but Nys simply attacked from the front. There's not much you can do against him. I did my own thing and tried to get on the podium. Maybe I should not have been so flabbily but I'm satisfied about how things unfolded," Albert said.

Belgian champion Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) struggled with illness, broke his seat post and abandoned the race. Vantornout loses five minutes and tumbles from third to a distant seventh place in the overall standings one week before he has to defend his Belgian title in Waregem. Thijs van Amerongen (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) is now third overall, 6:38 distant from leader Nys.

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