One week after his big win on the Koppenberg, in-form Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) nailed his third big win of the season on the Hotondberg in Ronse, Belgium.
Halfway through the race, Pauwels and Stybar escaped from the pack. It turned out only Albert had something left in the chase group and he powered away from the others. In front Stybar and Pauwels kept exchanging the pulls and after six laps they had 11 seconds on Albert and 33 seconds on Meeusen, Aernouts, Vantornout and a struggling Nys. The good co-operation between the two leaders proved to be lethal against the Albert’s comeback. Stybar led the first half of the last lap while Pauwels took over halfway. In the final stretches in the meadow Pauwels, on his Ridley X-Night, accelerated and he entered the uphill finish line with 5 meters on the world champion. Stybar was not able to recover, and Pauwels notched up his third big win of the season.

Result:
1. Kevin Pauwels
2. Zdenek Stybar
3. Niels Albert


Pictures: ispaphoto.com