Belgian gets first win of the season despite missing start
Niels Albert turned around a bad season by winning the World Cup round three in Koksijde, Belgium. Albert said good-bye to his fellow racers around half way through the race, continuously extended his lead and eventually finished half a minute ahead of Zdenek Stybar and Sven Nys.
His win was not obvious in the beginning, as Albert missed his start. “I don’t know how this happened. I was already 20 seconds behind after the first lap.” But the 2009 World Champion fought back, making up place after place and took over at the halfway point.
Albert had to wait a long time to get his first 2010/2011 victory. “This was hard, hard, hard work,” he said after the race to Sporza. Once he was away, though, he was never in danger. “This course has my name written on it, I really like to race here.”
This could be a good sign to get another rainbow jersey. “I am already thinking about the 2012 World Championships, which take place here. I am in good shape and it could be next week, but we will have to wait a year.”
Stybar was leading in the earlier part of the race, but had to settle for second. He was quite happy with his result. “I had bad legs, so I am very content.” Stybar said he was not troubled by his knee, but does not know what this means for tomorrow’s Superprestige. “It was the same in Hasselt. I had no pain in the morning, but it was very bad in the evening.”
The Czech rider defended his World Cup lead and is still 15 points ahead of Niels Albert. Stybar hopes to get over his physical problems as soon as possible. “I have not trained very much in the last two weeks and I feel I am losing my power.”
Nys was unlucky with third, having had two incidents that may have cost him the race. “The first two laps I lost time,” he said. Another rider had crashed in front him, leaving him in a bad position. The second blunder came at a more crucial moment, setting up Albert’s solo. “I was trying to shift onto the small ring, but dropped my chain.” He had to let several racers go by as he struggled to get his chain back on.
Sunny day on Koksijde’s dunes
The start held a surprise, as German Christoph Pfingsten was the first rider heading into the first corner. Tom Meeusen followed, Stybar was close by. The start of Nys was not good, but Albert was even farther back. When Stybar realized this, he quickly put the back burners on and dropped Pfingsten. Only his teammates Meeusen and Kevin Pauwels followed.
After one lap, Bart Aernouts and Rob Peeters had caught up – there were five leaders and four of them were from the Fidea team. The gap to the chasers was around ten seconds. Peeters had to drop back with a flat front tire, but it was close to the pit, so he was able to join the first chasers.
After two laps, Meeusen, Stybar, Pauwels and Aernouts led with four seconds over Nys, Mouray, Albert and Gerben de Knegt. Stybar had to change bikes, but a perfect switch meant he lost no time.
The groups merged when several riders came to the pit – nine riders were lined up one after the other, with Nys up in third position. Going into lap three, Nys attacked. He had a 30-meter gap over Stybar when the Belgian dropped his chain. Stybar took over the lead, but had no answer to an attack by Albert.
Albert was four seconds ahead of De Knegt, Aernouts, and the Fideas (Stybar, Pauwels, Meeusen and Bart Wellens). Nys and Mourey were 12 seconds back. Lap five was the fastest lap in the race, with 7’06. Albert was ten seconds ahead of the closest chasers, Bart Wellens, Aernouts and Stybar. Nys and Wellens joined the chasers, but in lap six, Albert was still solo, 28 seconds ahead.
Nys then used his superior technical skills for a beautiful attack on one of the short uphills on the sandy dunes. Where most would run, Nys used his momentum, power, and skill to ride up. He stayed right, where the sand was easier to handle. Stybar also stayed on the bike, but drifted to the left, where the sand was deeper.
Albert was 30 seconds ahead with two laps to go. Nys couldn’t sustain his attack, as Stybar was paced back by Wellens. Albert started the last lap with a gap of 40 seconds over Wellens. The trio Nys, Aernouts and Stybar was 47 seconds back.
Results
1 Niels Albert
2 Zdenek Stybar 0’27
3 Sven Nys 0’31
4 Bart Aernouts 0’32
5 Bart Wellens 0’42
6 Francis Mouray 0’56
7 Gerben de Knegt 0’58
8 Kevin Pauwels 1’01
9 Tom Meeusen 1’03
World Cup standings after round three
1 Zdenek Stybar 230
2 Niels Albert 215
3 Kevin Pauwels 181
4 Sven Nys 164
5 Francis Mourey 160