Niels Albert proved that he is one of the very best cyclo-cross riders on technical courses when he won the traditional World Cup race in the sand dunes in Koksijde in dominant fashion. On the circuit where he had become world champion in 2012, he opened up a gap early in the race and crossed the line in solo fashion while Francis Mourey beat Philip Walsleben and Sven Nys in the sprint for 2nd in a completely disastrous race for the world champion.

One of the most anticipated races of the cyclo-cross season is always the one in the sand dunes of Koksijde. Being one for the technically strongest riders, the circuit has seen several fierce battle between Niels Albert and Sven Nys in the last few seasons, with Albert becoming world champion in 2012 and Nys wnning the race last autumn.

When the 2013 edition of the race was held today, there was, however, no about the strongest rider in the race. Albert put in a lethal attack early in the race and no one was able to respond to his fierce acceleration.

The former world champion looked like the superior rider that won the rainbow jersey in dominant fashion on the same circuit and as soon as he had escaped, he kept extending his lead for most of the race. When the gap had reached almost a minute, he took it a bit easier but still had plenty of time to celebrate his victory.

Behind the dominant Albert, Nys had a disastrous race. Usually superior in the sand dunes, the world champion made numerous mistakes that saw him lose ground from the main chase group on several occasions. Often he appeared to have given up but always managed to come back to the riders who battled for 2nd.

On the final lap, the battle for the remaining podium places was between Nys, Kevin Pauwels, Francis Mourey and Philip Walsleben and the world champion tried to get rid of his companions. When he made another costly mistake, it was, however, left to Mourey and Walsleben to sprint for the 2nd place. Mourey entered the final corner in first position and kept it all the way to the line, thus improving on last year's 3rd place in the race.

World Cup leader Lars van der Haahr who had won the first two races in the series, had a difficult day and could manage 10th. Nonetheless, he defended his overall lead but now only has a slim 2-point lead over Walsleben who is now in 2nd.

van der Haahr makes early acceleration

As usual, Klaas Vantornout and Lars van der Haahr won the opening sprint and it was the Belgian champion who led the peloton on the early part of the course. In the first sand section, he made a mistake, allowing van der Haahr to take control with Nys being well-placed in second position.

Nys had a much better start than usual and he launched an immediate attack that could only be answered by van der Haahr and Corne Van Kessel. Wietse Bosmans was aware and closed the gap, thus creating a front quartet.

van der Haahr opens a gap

Nys slowed down a bit in a sand section which allowed van der Haahr to move ahead. The World Cup leader opened up a gap while Van Kessel set off in pursuit. Meanwhile, Vantornout and Thijs van Amerongen had joined the Nys group, with Francis Mourey, Niels Albert and Philip Walsleben bridging across a little later.

Van Kessel closed the gap to van der Haahr and at the first passage of the line, they were 7 seconds ahead of the main group that had been joined by Kevin Pauwels, Bart Aernouts and Tom Meeusen. The next group was 4 seconds further adrift.

Van Kessel the lone leader

The peloton slowed a bit down which allowed several riders to get back. At the same time, Van Kessel dropped van der Haahr who fell back to the main group which was led by van Amerongen

Van Kessel was riding really well on the sandy course and opened up a big gap. Meanwhile, the main favourites hid themselves a bit in the middle of the peloton while van der Haahr was allowed to do all the work.

Things come back together

Van Kessel struggled in a sandy section and this saw his gap come down. In the next section, he was caught by the main group and overtaken by van der Haahr and van Amerongen who both launched fierce accelerations. None of them managed to slip sway and as the line, a the main favourites were still together.

Albert felt that it was time to kick into action and so accelerated as soon as they had started the third lap. Gaps started to open up and Nys had lost some ground to the main group.

Walsleben tries his hand

Albert was overtaken by Walsleben in a sandy section and the German champion quickly opened up a big gap. Vantornout took over the pace-setting duties in the peloton which now only consisted of the Belgian champion, Bosmans, Albert, van der Haahr, van Amerongen, Meeusen and Van Kessel. Nys and Mourey were chasing a little further behind.

Vantornout escaped from the main group and closed the gap to Walsleben to create a very dangerous front duo. Meanwhile, Nys had regained contact with the peloton which was completely strung out, with gaps opening up all the time.

A sextet is created

Albert and van der Haahr both got across to the leaders while Bosmans and Meeusen escaped to form a chase duo. The duo closed the gap and at the passage of the line, a front sextet had been created. They were 6 seconds ahead of van Amerongen, van Kessel, Nys and Mourey while Rob Peeters followed 5 seconds further adrift.

On the fourth lap, Nys sensed that his main rivals were riding away from him and so he hit the front of the chase group. Meanwhile, Albert started to accelerate in a sandy section and strung the front group out.

Meeusen and Albert attack

Vantornout crashed spectacularly and fell back to the Nys group where the world champion was still riding hard. Meanwhile, Meeusen accelerated, with only Albert being able to respond.

The duo quickly opened up a gap on their three chasers but Meeusen clearly had to dig deep just to stay with Albert. Meanwhile, Nys, Mourey, van Kessel and Vantornout had joined the chase group in which Walsleben was doing the work.

Albert on his own

In a sandy section, Meeusen lost contact with Albert who was now the lone leader of the race. Riding comfortably in the saddle, he was looking like the rider who became world champion on this course in 2012.

At the passage of the line, Albert was 7 seconds ahead of Meeusen while Nys, van der Haahr, Walsleben and Van Kessel were 23 seconds behind the leader. Mourey, Vantornout and Bosmans had lost a little ground and were trying hard to get back in contention.

Nys senses the danger

Nys sensed the danger and hit the front as soon as they started the 5th lap. However, he made a big mistake in a sandy section that saw him come to a standstill and fell far back in the splintering chase group that had been joined by Vantornout, Mourey and Bosmans.

Van der Haahr, van Kessel, Vantornout and Bosmans created a gap as the World Cup leader was now riding hard in defence of his position on top of the leaderboard. However, they failed to make up ground on Albert who at the next passage of the line was 27 seconds ahead of Meeusen and 33 seconds ahead of the van der Haahr group, with Walsleben, Mourey, Nys, Aernouts and Pauwels following a little further behind.

Meeusen is caught

Halfway through the two groups had come together while Meeusen was also back in the fold. At this point, Nys made another costly mistake that brought both himself and Aernouts down. Now the world champion appeared to have given up as he was riding on his own far behind the main chasers with whom Aernouts remained in contact.

However, Nys recovered from his travails and managed to get back to the main group. Vantornout had done the work all the way around the course but failed to get any closer to Albert. As they started the 7th lap, they were a massive 52 seconds behind the former world champion.

More bad luck for Nys

Nys didn't have any luck as he was held up by Meeusen in the next sandy section. Once again, he was dropped from the main group in which Mourey was now leading the chase.

Nys refused to give up and so managed to rejoin the chase group.  Just as he had regained contact, he made another unusual mistake on a descent and once again lost ground.

Walsleben tries again

Meanwhile, Walsleben had accelerated from the chase group and while Mourey was briefly able to stay in contact, he was quickly dropped by the German champion. At the passage of the line, Walsleben was in lone pursuit of Albert but he was still 54 seconds behind. Moruey and Pauwels were both riding on their own while Nys had rejoined the main group and led them across the line. van der Haahr had lost contact and was riding on his own a little further behind.

Mourey rejoined Walsleben on the penultimate lap while Nys was now riding hard in the chase group. He opened up a gap to his companions and quickly bridged across to Pauwels. However, his bad luck had no end and when Pauwels made a mistake in a sandy section, he once again came to a halt.

Nys rejoins the chasers

Walsleben was clearly stronger than Mourey who constantly had to make it back to his companion after getting dropped. The duo was caught by Nys and Pauwels and the quartet started the final lap 54 seconds behind Albert while Meeusen, Aernouts, Vantornout, van Kessel and van der Haahr were riding on their own in pursuit a further behind.

A dramatic crash had brought down Bosmans who was lying on the ground for a long time before being transported away by the medical staff. Meanwhile, his teammate Albert was unstoppable and clearly the strongest rider in the race.

Nys tries to get clear

In the first sandy section on the circuit, Nys accelerated and this put both Mourey and Pauwels in difficulty. However, the duo managed to regain contact when they exited the sand.

Nys made yet another mistake in the next sandy section and so was passed by Walsleben. The German champion led the chasers for most of the lap and his fierce pace clearly put Mourey and Pauwels in difficulty.

Dominant win for Albert

Albert maintained his speed all the way around the circuit and had plenty of time to celebrate his first World Cup victory of the season. Meanwhile, Mourey tried to attack in the chase group and put all his rivals on the limit.

The French champion entered the finishing straight in first position and beat Walsleben in the sprint for 2nd. Nys was 4th and Pauwles 5th while Meeusen rolled across in 6th. Aernouts was next across the line while van Kessel beat Vantornout in a close sprint for 8th. van der Haahr rounded out the top 10.

Result:

1. Niels Albert

2. Francis Mourey +0.31

3. Philip Walsleben +0.32

4. Sven Nys +0.34

5. Kevin Pauwels +0.37

6. Tom Meeusen +0.54

7. Bart Aernouts +1.05

8. Corne van Kessel +1.13

9. Klaas Vantornout

10. Lars van der Haahr +1.33

Overall World Cup standings:

1.Lars  van der Haahr 202

2. Philip Walsleben 200

3. Kevin Pauwels 190

4. Niels Albert 170

5. Klaas Vantornout 159

6. Bart Aernouts 151

7. Corne van Kessel