Pauwels Completes Weekend of Winning at Superprestige Asper-Gavere UPDATED: U23 Report, Full Results, Gallery

by David Evans

ASPER-GAVERE, BELGIUM — Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) continued his winning ways this weekend by taking top honors at the Superprestrige Asper-Gavere. An attack in the seventh lap allowed him to demonstrate his stunning form, and the appearance of indecision and noncooperation in the chase behind him secured his victory. Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step) led the chase group to the final straight, only to be overhauled by Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) in the sprint.

This year’s Superprestige events have occasionally felt like quasi-criteriums due to the bright and mild conditions enjoyed by the seemingly semi-arid area of northern Europe known as Belgium. Last week, Niels Albert called for winter to begin in earnest. A wrist injury kept the Belgian Champion off of the start line on Sunday; winter’s absence has a less obvious explanation. Knobby tire treads remain in near pristine condition, mid-race bike changes stay a novelty, and mechanics have rejoiced in the lack of post-race cleaning. Only the comforting sight of a handheld Dirk Hoffman Motorhomes placard can reassure the fan of the authenticity of the cyclocross on show.

The lack of adverse conditions rendered the Gavere course mostly tame, allowing few opportunities for the more ambitious riders to distinguish themselves. Slopes became the deciding factor, so much so that it felt as if the group simply rode tempo between the starts of the climbs, then allowed the gradients to do the selecting for them.

A line of the usual suspects dominated the first half of the race. Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) took the hole shot and shared much of the work at the front of the group for the next four laps, followed by Kevin Pauwels, Zdenek Stybar, Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet), Bart Aernouts (Rabobank Giant Off-Road), Bart Wellens, Tom Meeusen and Joeri Adams (all Telenet-Fidea). Vantornout conspired to have a minor crash (one of just a few in the whole afternoon) on a fairly simple corner in the third lap, but managed to be rubber-side-down within a few seconds and returned to the front of the group shortly after.

Vantornout’s efforts might be read as a counter to last week’s criticism that Pauwels and his Sunweb-Revor team should have been responsible for chasing down Stybar’s race winning attack, their hesitation allowing him to build a huge advantage in a just a lap of racing. Whatever the case, having Vantornout patrol the front allowed Pauwels and his main rivals the luxury of hiding their noses from the wind without having to worry about any breaks building gaps on the fast course.

Pauwels used the embers of attempted attacks to ignite his own near the crest of the last slope of the seventh lap. Several riders, including Nys, had pushed the tempo up the climb, but Pauwels was the only one able to create distance between himself and the rest.

It appears that indecision by the chasers allowed Pauwels to cruise to the finish. Nys and Stybar took turns trying to pull Pauwels back, but Stybar could be seen angrily gesturing to Nys and the other chasers after their efforts seemed to have little effect. Pauwels eventually won with more than 30 seconds’ advantage; a late attack by Bart Wellens came to nothing as a charging Zdenek Stybar lead the chasers’ group through the final turns. This left Stybar in a vulnerable position for the sprint, and he conceded defeat to Tom Meeusen several bike lengths from the line. Sven Nys rolled across for fourth.

U23: World Champion Van der Haar unbeatable

One day after his solo win in the GVA in Hasselt, World Champion Lars van der Haar (Rabobank) added another win to his palmares to win solo in the Superprestige race in Asper-Gavere. Van der Haar attacked halfway through the race to win with a 22 second lead over his younger teammate Stan Godrie. Swiss Champion Arnaud Grand completed the podium. Jens Adams and Michiel van der Heijden fourth and fifth. Superprestige leader Wietse Bosmans abandoned the race after his nasty crash in Hasselt and lost his overall lead to Van der Haar.

Tsjech Karl Hnik (Telenet-Fidea) and Dutch Gert-Jan Bosman (Rabobank) took the hole shot followed by Lars van der Haar, Tijmen Eising and Micki van Empel. In the third lap Arnaud Jouffroy (Telenet-Fidea) broke clear. Arnaud Grand and Stan Godrie bridged up followed a little later by Van der Haar.

One lap ahead Jouffroy dropped off the break and Van der Haar, Godrie and Grand extended their lead lap by lap. Halfway through the race Van der Haar spread his wings dropped the others and soloed to another impressive win. First years U23 Stan Godrie finished in second by holding off Arnaud Grand.

U23 Gallery – Bart Hazen

Superprestige Asper-Gavere 2011 Elite Men

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age	Result
1	Kevin PAUWELS	BEL	28	1:02:05
2	Tom MEEUSEN	BEL	24	1:02:37
3	Zdenek STYBAR	CZE	27	1:02:37
4	Bart AERNOUTS	BEL	30	1:02:37
5	Sven NYS	BEL	36	1:02:41
6	Klaas VANTORNOUT	BEL	30	1:02:43
7	Bart WELLENS	BEL	34	1:02:45
8	Radomir SIMUNEK	CZE	29	1:02:56
9	Joeri ADAMS	BEL	23	1:02:56
10	Niels WUBBEN	NED	24	1:03:16
11	Rob PEETERS	BEL	27	1:03:16
12	Gerben DE KNEGT	NED	37	1:03:16
13	Thijs VAN AMERONGEN	NED	26	1:03:22
14	Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	27	1:03:23
15	Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE	BEL	24	1:03:34
16	Sven VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	31	1:03:45
17	Mariusz GIL	POL	29	1:03:48
18	Ian FIELD	GBR	26	1:03:55
19	Jiri POLNICKY	CZE	23	1:04:01
20	Thijs AL	NED	32	1:04:13
21	Jonathan PAGE	USA	36	1:04:35
22	Steve CHAINEL	FRA	29	1:05:07
23	Jan DENUWELAERE	BEL	24	1:05:08
24	Isaac SUAREZ FERNANDEZ	ESP	33	1:05:08
25	Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ	ESP	33
26	Bart HOFMAN	BEL	27	1:05:15
27	Vincent BAESTAENS	BEL	23	1:05:29
28	Robert GAVENDA	SVK	24	1:05:29
29	Patrick VAN LEEUWEN	NED	27	1:05:30
30	Paul OLDHAM	GBR	35	1:05:54
31	Martin ZLAMALIK	CZE	30	1:07:36
32	Tom VAN DEN BOSCH	BEL	27
33	Eddy VAN IJZENDOORN	NED	27
34	Craig RICHEY	CAN	28
35	Dmitrijs SOROKINS	LAT	30
36	Sigvard KUKK	EST	40