Pauwels wins the sprint in Pont-Château

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Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea) beat Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) in an exciting two-man duel that ended in a battle for the last corner and a sprint, at the seventh round of the UCI's cyclo-cross World Cup in Pont-Château, France. Back in 2004 Pauwels won the U23 cyclo-cross world championships on the same course.

“It's a course that suits me. Around New Year the courses were tough but I'm performing better on the so-called lighter courses,” Pauwels said after capturing his biggest win of the season. It's Pauwels' second World Cup victory of his career, after winning in Zolder last year.

Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) did not have a great day but he did manage to win the sprint ahead of a large chase group, to take third, almost a minute behind the two leaders. World Cup leader Albert remains in the overall lead with a comfortable gap over Pauwels. World champion Zdenek Stybar wasn't present in Pont-Château.

On the fast and non-technical course a large group of riders remained together during the first two laps. Then World Cup leader Albert moved forward and he clocked a blistering fast third lap. Right behind him Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb-Revor) blew up tying to chase him and even a rider like Nys was clearly in trouble, allowing Albert to open a sizeable gap.

At that moment Pauwels was deliberating on what to do while riding in fifth place. “I started well today but when Niels attacked during the third lap I sat too far in the group. I figured I still had the possibility to close the gap and it narrowly worked out well,” Pauwels said.

The eventual winner was followed by Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus), Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) and Steve Chainel (FDJ). The five leaders hit the fourth lap and a second surge by Albert took its toll on Walsleben, Vantornout and Chainel. While the leading duo steamed away in front there was a cease-fire behind, at the end of the fourth lap. The two Belgians in front quickly opened a lead of 45 seconds which allowed them to complete the final five laps while keeping control of the chase group.

“We focused on staying in front,” Pauwels said.

During the final lap, 12 chasers were battling for third place. Italian champion Marco Aurelio Fontana led this group in the first section but then lost focus and hit a pole. The crash from Fontana took down plus Walsleben, Vantornout and Francis Mourey (FDJ) too. Bart Aernouts (Rabo-Giant Offroad), Chainel, Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea), Nys, John Gadret (Bouygues Telecom), Enrico Franzoi (BKCP-Powerplus) and then Timothy Johnson (Cannondale) managed to manoeuvre around the pile-up.

Up front the leading duo hit the long sloping uphill stretch and Pauwels tried a first attempt to shake off Albert. It didn't work out and Pauwels claimed he had struggled with his pedal. “I clicked out of my pedal several times today. I don't think it would be possible to avoid the sprint though,” Pauwels said.

On the next uphill stretch that led to a left-hand corner and the finish line the duo rode shoulder to shoulder with Pauwels on the left and Albert on the right.

“The sprint was contested before the final corner. He wanted to hit it too fast and that's why he lost time, making it easy for me,” Pauwels said. Pauwels lost his pedal once again but Albert lost time by going on the outside of the corner and quickly accepted defeat.

“That I lost is my own fault. I had a gap of a metre when hitting the corner. I could've hit him into the fence but wisely choose not to do that. In the end I did a good job as it's now virtually impossible to lose overall victory. Even if Pauwels wins the last World Cup round I have enough points with a result in the top-15,” Albert told Sporza.

Almost a minute later it was Nys who won the same battle for the lead position going into the left-hand corner, ahead of Chainel and Aernouts. Nys stood tall and a disappointed Chainel had to settle for fourth place on home soil.

“Third place was the best possible result because all race long I had to cling on to other riders. I was lucky when they crashed in front of me but it's my own merit that I'm on the podium,” Nys told Sporza.

Halfway into the race Timothy Johnson profited from a cease-fire in the chase group to join the battle for third place. Despite avoiding the last lap crash that included Fontana and co., Johnson finished outside the top-10, rolling across the line in 12th place.

“Well that wasn't so bad... a couple of crashes in the beginning, getting dizzy so many laps,” Johnson Twittered right after the race. British rider Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) was 15th and Jeremy Powers 19th. The latter took the honours of grabbing the hole shot and leading the peloton during the first stretches of the French course.

In the World Cup standings Albert has a huge gap of 61 points over Pauwels. Nys is third at 71 points behind Albert. Both riders are the only ones left with a theoretical chance of stealing the overall win from Albert as there are 80 points at stake for a victory in the last round of the World Cup next week in Hoogherheide, in the Netherlands.