The Belgian Kevin Pauwels wins the race of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Namur, which is characterized by large time gaps. Pauwels thus consolidates his position as leader. Dutchman Lars van der Haar finished second ahead of Philipp Walsleben from Germany. This trio is only 19 seconds apart, but the gaps behind them are widening - atypical for cyclo-cross races. The reason for this is the hilly terrain and the heavy ground.

Marcel Wildhaber seems to like these characteristics of the course. The 29-year-old starts from the second row, but quickly takes the lead after a lightning start. After the first two laps in the lead, Wildhaber slowed down a little so as not to overspeed. This tactic ultimately brings him sixth place and his best result in the cyclo-cross World Cup.

Julien Taramarcaz gets caught at the start and finds himself in 25th place after two laps. However, the Frenchman was able to benefit from his good form and set about catching up. Taramarcaz fights his way up to eleventh position shortly before the finish, from where he catches French champion Francis Mourey in the jump and secures tenth place.
Simon Zahner finished 20th, Severin Sägesser and Lukas Winterberg 34th and 36th respectively.

Jacobs surprises with first victory
Swiss junior cyclo-cross champion Johan Jacobs got the season off to a good start with a third place in both the World Cup opener and the European Championships. At the second Junior World Cup in Namur, the young rider from Zurich was able to convert his good form into his first victory. Jacobs relegates the Belgian Eli Iserbyt to second place. Third place went to junior mountain bike world champion Simon Andreassen from Denmark.

In the U23 category, the Swiss had no chance against the Flemish superiority. The winner Wout van Aert (BEL) is in a class of his own and wins by almost a minute ahead of the runners-up Mathieu van der Poel and Laurens Sweeck. Van Aert had already proven his strength the day before at the cyclo-cross race in Essen, Belgium, when he saw off the entire elite competition. Andri Frischknecht nevertheless performed well among the mostly Belgian cyclo-cross riders and scored two World Cup points in 14th place.

In the women's race, victory went to the Czech Katerina Nash, who is also known as one of the world's best mountain bikers. The Swiss women came away empty-handed in this race. Lise-Marie Henzelin is the best Swiss woman in 34th place.

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