Bart Wellens grabbed his first victory of the season with the GVA Trophy race #3 in Hasselt. Full report by Bart Hazen of Daily Peloton below.
The Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee continued in Hasselt (November 22) for the third race of this prestigious series. In the cold, muddy and snowy weather conditions it was Belgian Bart Wellens who took his first win of the season. Kevin Pauwels and Rob Peeters completed the podium of the fourth edition of the park cross in Hasselt.
Sven Nys who finished fifth after a crash and a mechanical but stays in the lead of the GVA ranking. Bart Wellens moves up to second and Rob Peeters to third. The big absentees were the U23 World Champion Niels Albert and the Elite World Champion Lars Boom. The first due to a split in his spleen after a crash in Asper-Gavere last week and the second due to illness.
In the race Sven Nys and Thijs Al created a gap in the first lap and gathered lead over a group led by the Fidea’s Bart Wellens, Zdenek Stybar and Kevin Pauwels. Pauwels was able to bridge up and after one lap the three had a gap of about ten seconds.
In the second lap more riders were able to bridge up to the break and Nys decided to attack again with only Pauwels who could follow his wheel. Pauwels won the intermediate sprint after the second lap and grabbed three points for the overall GVA ranking. Nys was second and Wellens third.
In the third lap Nys and Pauwels got company of Wellens and Stybar but the break of four felt apart when Nys collided with Czech champion Zdenek Stybar. Wellens and Pauwels took over the lead with four laps to go and had a lead of about ten seconds on a large chasing group.
In the next laps Rob Peeters took the initiative in the chasing group and created a gap on the others. One lap ahead, Sven Nys did the same and quickly bridged up to his teammate Peeters. With two laps to go both Landbouwkrediet riders managed to join the front, making it a four rider break and a battle between Fidea and Landbouwkrediet.
In the penultimate lap Peeters got stuck in the sand and also Sven Nys had bad luck with a flat tyre. As the pit lane was not in the neighborhood Nys didn’t play any role for the victory anymore.
In the penultimate lap Wellens attacked and his team mate Pauwels didn’t had an answer to it. Wellens grabbed his first victory of the season after showing great form already last week in Asper-Gavere where he finished as second behind Nys.
Tomorrow the riders will head to Hamme-Zogge for another race of the Superprestige.
The U23 race was won by German Philipp Walsleben. Walsleben attacked in the final and his opponents Van Compernolle and Meeusen were not able to react on the strong German. Van Compernolle finished as second and Belgian Tom Meeusen as third. The top five was completed by German Champion Marcel Meisen and Czech Lubomir Petrus. For Walsleben it’s his 10th victory of the season.
Result Elite Men
1 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 58.05
2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.10
3 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 0.24
4 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.30
5 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 0.40
6 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 0.45
7 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank
8 Petr Dlask (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team
9 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Cycling Team
10 Wilant van Gils (Ned) Pro Cycling Team ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida
11 Thijs Al (Ned) Be-One Team 0.59
12 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team
13 Radomir Simunek (Cze) Palmans – Cras 1.37
14 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans – Cras 2.17
15 Thijs van Amerongen (Ned)
16 Ben Berden (Bel) Revor Cycling Team
17 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team
18 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel)
19 Nico Berckmans (Bel) DCM-GB Vorselaar Cycling Team 3.10
20 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 3.21
21 Marco Bianco (Ita) L’Arcobaleno Carraro Team
22 David Willemsens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 4.10
23 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 4.20
24 Jimmy Tielens (Bel) 5.07
25 Ian Field (GBr) 6.54
26 Roy Van Heeswijk (Ned) (Ned) 7.20
27 Gusty Bausch (Lux) 7.37
28 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 9.05
29 Jerry Kallenfels (Ned) Easypay Cyclocross Team + 1 lap
30 Ken Smets
31 Mark Cotton (GBr) + 2 laps
32 Steven De Schoesitter (Bel) Rudyco Cycling Team
33 Jochem Danckaers op +4 laps
Result U23 Men (top 20)
1 Philipp Walsleben (Bel) Palmans – Cras 49.52
2 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 0.16
3 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.19
4 Marcel Meisen (Ger) 0.24
5 Lubomír Petruš (Cze) Empella Czech Team 0.35
6 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Palmans – Cras 0.42
7 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
8 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) 1.14
9 Wim Leemans (Bel) 1.20
10 Jan Van Dael (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 1.45
11 Stef Boden (Bel) 2.05
12 Sascha Waber (Ger) 2.08
13 Sven Verboven (Bel) Palmans – Cras 2.25
14 Kevin Cant (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 2.49
15 Dries Dewit (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 3.08
16 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 3.23
17 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 3.47
18 Rik van IJzendoorn (Ned) 4.24
19 Dany Lacroix (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 4.35
20 Robert Gavenda (Svk) Fidea Cycling Team 4.59
