The fourth station of the Cyclocross World Cup will be held below the citadel in Namur. A year ago, the Belgian Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) prevailed on the extremely demanding circuit with a lead of almost a minute over the assembled competition. Yesterday's win in Essen proved that he is in good shape and can definitely fight for the day's win.
Pauwels should probably contest the day's victory above all Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) and Zdenenk Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). It is still unclear whether world champion Sven Nys (Crelan-KDL) can join this phalanx. After his fall in Essen, he promised that he would not start.
World Cup leader Lars van der Haar (Rabobank) and German champion Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) should also have an exciting race. Only two points separate the two at the moment. Pauwels is another ten points behind.
In the women's category, Katie Compton (Trek) leads by thirty points ahead of Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) and Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP). These three should also be in front in Namur.