Nash and Van Aert Pull Away for Wins at GP Sven Nys BPost Bank Trophy Cyclocross in Baal-Updated: Full Results

Nash Dominates with Absence from Vos and Ferrand Prevot

Katerina Nash (Luna Pro), might be a citizen of the Czech Republic and living in the United States, but she has certainly made her home in Belgium with her third victory in the country in the 2014-15 season, another being the World Cup in Namur. Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP), who has been struggling with illness, crossed the line for second more than a half minute back, while Ellen Van Loy (Telenet-Fidea) took the final spot on the podium.

With the third place, Van Loy takes the lead in the overall standings over Sophie de Boer, who left the race in the first lap due to illness, and Van Loy now has almost a two minute lead over Cant as she will head into Lille a week after the World Championships in the Czech Republic.

Van Loy, the habitual fast starter, set the pace during the first lap, with her teammate, Nikki Harris, in tow alongside Cant and Nash. It was not long before Nash established herself and created a gap, which widened halfway through the race over the rest of the chasers.

Harris pulled herself in just off the podium, while fellow countrywomen Helen Wyman (Kona) followed two spots behind in sixth.

Erica Zaveta (Amy D. Foundation) gave an impressive performance as the lead American, coming in ninth, while Elle Anderson (Kalas-NNOF) took 11th. Christine Vardaros captured 14th, and Corey Coogan crossed the line in 18th.

Van Aert Starts the New Year as He Left It, With Anther Win

Wout van Aert (Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace) had an impressive New Year’s ride, finishing well out alone at the GP Sven Nys Race of the BPost Bank Trofee ahead of Lars van der Haar (Giant Development) and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb – Napoleon Games). He is the series leader with Pauwels the clear second and Sven Nys (Crelan – AA Drink Team) third.

As the lights changed from red to green, Van der Haar sped ahead for the holeshot, although it was Tom Meeusen’s bold bunnyhopping that would send the Telenet-Fidea rider to the lead early in the first lap.

A group of nine riders formed at the front of the race, with Nys in sixth position, looking ready to fight for the win. A lap later Van Aert, Van der Haar, Meeusen, Pauwels and Nys took off from the others, which formed into a chase group.

A little over a third of the way through the race, Nys led the other riders over the flyover as the crowd erupted with cheers. By this point of the race there was no clear dominate rider as each of the five took a turn dictating the pace at the front. Van Aert nearly lost his front wheel at one of the muddy descents, but unclipped a foot and saved himself, only losing a marginal amount of time with Nys and Pauwels up front.

Once on the pavement, Van Aert slowed the pace at the front, barely allowing Gianni Vermeersch (Sunweb – Napoleon Games) to join the five up front. Just then, however, Van Aert timed a well-executed attack, with only Meeusen able to keep on his wheel. Nys was able to keep pace for a half lap several seconds back, but he couldn’t keep up with Van Aert’s speed.

Once Meeusen punctured his rear tire far from the pits, Van Aert continued to press on alone, and would only continue to grow the gap for the remainder of the race. Lars van der Haar passed Meeusen and was soon alone in second while Pauwels and Nys fought each other for third. Pauwels would eventually win the battle for the podium, while his teammate Vermeersch, who had spent so much energy reconnecting to the leaders, was able to sneak in past Nys for fourth.

No American men were present in Baal for the Elite Race.

Jacobs Takes Junior Race with Laurens Sweeck Winning U23

Belgian rider Laurens Sweeck won the U23 race in Baal, with fellow countrymen Toon Aerts and Michael Vanthournhout joining him on the podium. Sam O’Keefe the last remaining American U23 rider to race in Europe before coming home for Nationals, took 18th.

Swiss rider Johan Jacobs secured the top spot today in the Junior race, with Dutch rider Jens Dekker following in second, and Belgian Han Devos finishing third. American Gavin Haley finished in seventh, with Brannan Fix coming in 17th, Cormac Dunn taking 27th, and Adin Baird rounding out the American Juniors in 30th.

2015 G.P. Sven Nys, Junior Race

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result
1	Johan JACOBS	SUI	18	39:55:00
2	Jens DEKKER	NED	17	41:07:00
3	Han DEVOS	BEL	18	41:34:00
4	Wesley FLOREN	NED	18	41:56:00
5	Joffrey DEGUEURCE	FRA	18	42:01:00
6	Jari DE CLERCQ	BEL	17	42:12:00
7	Gavin HALEY	USA	18	42:18:00
8	Reno BAUTERS	BEL	17	42:22:00
9	Lucas VALENTIN	FRA	18	42:25:00
10	Jarno LIESSENS	BEL	17	42:25:00
11	Mart MUSKENS	NED	18	42:49:00
12	Alex COLMAN	BEL	17	42:59:00
13	Stijn SIEMONS	BEL	18	43:10:00
14	Glenn VERBEECK	BEL	18	43:13:00
15	Seppe ROMBOUTS	BEL	17	43:13:00
16	Jente TIELEMANS	BEL	17	43:15:00
17	Brannan FIX	USA	18	43:24:00
18	Jenko BONNE	BEL	18	43:29:00
19	Yari CROLLET	BEL	18	43:29:00
20	Stefano MUSEEUW	BEL	18	44:00:00
21	Pelle VAN DEN BULCK	BEL	18	44:00:00
22	Aïden MAES	BEL	18	45:10:00
23	Einar STEEGMANS	BEL	17	45:30:00
24	Ted PETTERSSON	SWE	17	46:07:00
25	Natan LEHOUX	FRA	18
26	Tomas SZÉDELYI	BEL	17
27	Cormac DUNN	USA	18
28	Diede MORTIER	BEL	17
29	Pieter GIART	BEL	17
30	Adin BAIRD	USA	18
31	Niels HENDRICKX	BEL	17
32	Stef HENDRICKX	BEL	17
33	Sander JEURISSEN	BEL	17

2015 G.P. Sven Nys, U23 Race

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result
1	Laurens SWEECK	BEL	22	48:13:00
2	Toon AERTS	BEL	22	48:26:00
3	Michael VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	22	48:30:00
4	Yannick PEETERS	BEL	19	48:42:00
5	Adam TOUPALIK	CZE	19	48:51:00
6	Diether SWEECK	BEL	22	49:24:00
7	Daan SOETE	BEL	21	49:30:00
8	Quinten HERMANS	BEL	20	49:39:00
9	Jens VANDEKINDEREN	BEL	22	49:41:00
10	Nicolas CLEPPE	BEL	20	50:06:00
11	Kobe GOOSSENS	BEL	19	50:53:00
12	Braam MERLIER	BEL	21	50:59:00
13	Daan HOEYBERGHS	BEL	21	51:58:00
14	Berne VANKEIRSBILCK	BEL	21	51:58:00
15	Matthias VAN DE VELDE	BEL	21	53:03:00
16	Ward VAN LAER	BEL	20	53:37:00
17	Stijn CALUWE	BEL	19	53:54:00
18	Sam O'KEEFE	USA	21	54:10:00
19	Yves COOLEN	BEL	20	54:35:00
20	Sybren JACOBS	BEL	19	54:46:00
21	Kyle DE PROOST	BEL	20	55:05:00
22	Steven SCHREIBER	GER	19	55:23:00
23	Nick VAN DE KERCKHOVE	BEL	19	56:16:00
24	Lawrence TIBACKX	BEL	19	56:41:00
25	Remigiusz GIL	POL	19	57:01:00
26	Niels BUYSEN	BEL	20
27	Liam EARL	USA	19
28	Yelle LEAERTS	BEL	21
29	Albert POBLET	ESP	19

2015 G.P. Sven Nys, Elite Women's Race

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result
1	Katerina NASH	CZE	38	39:54:00
2	Sanne CANT	BEL	25	40:26:00
3	Ellen VAN LOY	BEL	35	40:39:00
4	Nikki HARRIS	GBR	29	41:44:00
5	Jolien VERSCHUEREN	BEL	25	41:54:00
6	Helen WYMAN	GBR	34	42:14:00
7	Pavla HAVLIKOVA	CZE	32	42:43:00
8	Loes SELS	BEL	30	43:24:00
9	Erica ZAVETA	USA	26	44:32:00
10	Asa Maria ERLANDSSON	SWE	41	44:52:00
11	Elle ANDERSON	USA	27	45:09:00
12	Githa MICHIELS	BEL	32	45:20:00
13	Cindy BAUWENS	BEL	41	47:19:00
14	Christine VARDAROS	USA	46	47:27:00
15	Pauline DELHAYE	FRA	26	47:39:00
16	Mercedes PACIOS PUJADO	ESP	32	47:39:00
17	Shana MAES	BEL	20	48:58:00
18	Corey COOGAN CISEK	USA	38	49:29:00
19	Axelle BELLAERT	BEL	18
20	Jessika TIMMERMANS	BEL	36
21	Chris VAN DORSSELAERE	BEL	30
22	Cindy DIERICX	BEL	41

2015 G.P. Sven Nys, Elite Men's Race

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result
1	Wout VAN AERT	BEL	21	1:06:11
2	Lars VAN DER HAAR	NED	24	1:06:57
3	Kevin PAUWELS	BEL	31	1:07:07
4	Gianni VERMEERSCH	BEL	23	1:07:35
5	Sven NYS	BEL	39	1:08:05
6	Rob PEETERS	BEL	30	1:08:12
7	Klaas VANTORNOUT	BEL	33	1:08:27
8	Joeri ADAMS	BEL	26	1:08:30
9	Tom MEEUSEN	BEL	27	1:08:32
10	Marcel MEISEN	GER	26	1:09:29
11	Tim MERLIER	BEL	23	1:09:53
12	Julien TARAMARCAZ	SUI	28	1:10:01
13	Sven VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	34	1:10:05
14	Patrick GAUDY	BEL	38	1:10:51
15	Niels WUBBEN	NED	27	1:11:10
16	Bart WELLENS	BEL	37	1:11:20
17	Mariusz GIL	POL	32	1:11:51
18	Vinnie BRAET	BEL	24	1:12:14
19	Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE	BEL	27	1:12:45
20	Lubomir PETRUS	CZE	25	1:13:14
21	Twan VAN DEN BRAND	NED	26
22	Patrick VAN LEEUWEN	NED	30
23	Hendrik SWEECK	BEL	23
24	Ismael Felix BARBA FRUTOS	ESP	24
25	Fabian OBRIST	SUI	24
26	Yannick MAYER	GER	24
27	Miguel FILLAUT	FRA	26
28	Yu TAKENOUCHI	JPN	27
29	Ramon SAGUES PORTABELLA	ESP	37
30	Mark MCCONNELL	CAN	27
31	Angus EDMOND	NZL	39
32	Christophe CAVAZZANA	FRA	34
33	Robert WARDELL	GBR	30
34	Paul REDENBACH	AUS	37