Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) pulled off a rare weekend double, taking the GP Hasselt yesterday and now the Superprestige round in Asper-Gavere today. Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) outsprinted Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step) for second, while Bart Aernouts (Rabobank Giant-Offroad) and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth.
Ramping up the speed after Nys drove the pace on one of the circuit’s climbs, Pauwels used a searing acceleration on lap seven to leave behind a chasing group of four. This group featured Stybar and Nys, and also included his team-mate Klaas Vantornout.
Pauwels quickly built a 15-second lead and, only a short while afterwards, victory seemed assured when Stybar led the chase group over the line with two laps to go. He eased up, frustrated, motioning at Nys to pull through and losing further time when the Belgian initially refused.
Nys and Stybar would end up sharing the workload to try and reel in Pauwels, but the in-form Belgian kept pulling away. An attack from the chasing group by Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) on the final lap briefly earned the former World Champion some daylight to the chasers, but he too was unable to cut into the lead of Pauwels, who modestly raised his arms over the line to the delight of his super-fan grandmother.
The win puts Pauwels into second place in the Superprestige series, five points behind Nys and Stybar, who are tied for the lead with 50 points apiece.
“I’ve never felt so good,” Pauwels told Sporza at the finish. “It’s been a great season and I’m [up there] in all the classifications. I hope it can continue.”
On a warm day in Belgium with the sun beaming through the trees and some haze, the bunch pushed a quick pace on a course that didn’t require a rider dismount. Vantornout took up the pace early with team-mate Pauwels content to sit further down the field that stretched out single-file.
Nys was the first favourite to put in an acceleration, which drew out Stybar and Pauwels. By the time the rest of the field had made it back, three laps were complete, and Meeusen and the rest of the chase were gasping for breath.
When things came back together again, Pauwels went to the front and began to move away with the world champion, Nys, and Meeusen. Aernouts, in his haste to try and hang on, overcooked a right-hander and briefly clipped a barrier. As the field came back to its signature single-file line, Joeri Adams (Telenet-Fidea) took up the pace in support of Meeusen and Wellens.
As the race sped into its second half, Stybar tried his luck, attacking on an uphill. Unable to gain a gap, Stybar recalled his inability to get away after the race. “Today I thought the course would have been more selective, but I didn’t expect such a tactical race with so many riders in the lead group,” he said. “I tried to attack at four laps from the finish but I couldn’t mix it up like I was hoping to.
With three laps to go to the final Pauwels attacked. Kevin really chose the best moment to attack, and it was all we could do to just watch him ride off alone. I tried keeping the pace behind him, but there was really nothing left to do at that point.”
Initially it was Nys who tried cover Pauwels’ move on the eighth lap. But it was Stybar who led the chase over the line with two to go, and as Pauwels had already extended his lead to 13 seconds, Stybar was quickly frustrated by a lack of cooperation in the chase. Nys and Stybar would end up sharing the pace, but could make no in-roads on Pauwels’ lead.
“It was a little too fast for me,” Nys explained to Sporza. “I have never seen a performance like Kevin’s today. Fifth was the best I could do. I have to accept it.”
As Pauwels padded his lead to more than 30 seconds, Wellens made his move and looked for a while as if he would stay away for second. But Aernouts and then Stybar pulled him back with several hundred meters remaining. His team-mate Meeusen took advantage though, outsprinting Stybar for second to take his first Superprestige podium of the season.
Earlier, Sanne van Paassen (Brainwash) won the women’s race, ahead of Sophie de Boer (Telenet-Fidea) and Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea). The first two got clear early on when a big crash delayed most of the riders. Harris and Van Paassen’s teammate Sabrina Stultiens got across at the end of the second lap, but British champion Helen Wyman (Horizon Fitness) was unable to bridge.
The five-woman lead group splintered three laps from the end when Van Paassen, De Boer and Harris pushed ahead. The first two were stronger than Harris, who fought hard to stay in touch. She appeared to have a chance of winning when Van Paassen crashed and briefly delayed De Boer, but the other two got back up to speed and fought it out for the win.