Pauwels takes the win in a sprint against Stybar at the GvA Troffee race in Hasselt. ©Bart Hazen
HASSELT, BELGIUM – Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) claimed his second straight GvA Hasselt win Saturday after an exciting finish-line duel with last year’s runner-up Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step).
The series leader joined three other riders off the front, including world champion Stybar (who beat Pauwels at the line at this race in 2009), Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) and Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea). With advantages slipping indecisively back and forth between the four leaders in the closing laps, the bunch approached the finish together. Stybar jumped first, but Pauwels immediately countered, gaining the small gap over Stybar he would hold to the line with a last second bike throw. Nys crossed the line for third, duplicating last year’s podium. Meeusen was fourth.
Pauwels, who has won the first three races of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee series, now holds a 12 point lead over Stybar with five races remaining. Nys is third, 20 points off Pauwels’ lead, while Meeusen sits fourth and fellow Belgian Bart Aernouts is fifth. The series continues Dec. 17 with the GP Rouwmoer, where Nys won last year after Niels Albert flatted while leading the last lap.
In the U23 race, Lars van der Haar continued his dominance of the series, and Micki van Empel won the sprint for second from Wietse Bosmans.
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U23 Men
