Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) won the Koppenbergcross round of the Bpost Bank Trofee series on Friday in Oudenaarde, Belgium. Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) was second and Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb) was third.
World champion Sven Nys (Crelan-Euphony) extended his overall lead in the season-long series. After two rounds, Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) is second, 45 seconds adrift.
Earlier in the day, Helen Wyman (Kona) won the women’s race over Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) and Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea).
A sharp acceleration by Albert 35 minutes into the elite men’s race split the front group, with Belgian champion Vantornout able to follow, but Nys drew the lead group of five back before the next climb up the Koppenberg.
The next time around, Pauwels put in a sharp effort, again splitting the front of the race, but eight riders again regrouped. Philipp Walsleben (BKCP) attacked, earning himself four seconds and putting Nys into difficulty, but Pauwels chased hard to close the gap before the climb. Walsleben and Pauwels surged on the climb, dropping Albert and a pair of Telenet-Fidea riders.
The efforts continued to pressure the front group, but Nys and Albert were both able to latch on in the flats. Vantornout led into the mud for the last lap ahead of Walsleben, Vantornout, Pauwels, Meeusen, Nys, Albert, and Corné Van Kessel (Telenet-Fidea).
Meeusen surged into the technical section leading to the climb and attacked hard on the climb, leading Vantornout. The Belgian champ took to the front on the winding descent, Pauwels and Nys third and fourth, respectively. Albert was gone. Nys, the world champion, who led the series over Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah) by 12 seconds, lost contact with the three leaders, but chased hard for overall time.
Meeusen closed on Vantornout and the trio rode onto the finish straight together. Meeusen opened a fierce sprint — Vantornout and Pauwels merely watched as the Telenet youngster cruised to victory.
The post Meeusen wins 2013 Koppenbergcross; Nys leads Bpost Bank Trofee appeared first on VeloNews.com.
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