Zdenek's knee problem looks to be behind him following his second place finish in the Hasselt City GP. Our champion finished behind Kevin Pauwels and remains the overall leader in the GvA Trophy standings.
Race organizers pulled out all the stops this past week to battle recent flooding in the area. And they were very successful in their efforts as the course looked nothing like the courses we've seen recently. The track was very fast.
Styby got off to a good start and took over the lead from Klaas Vantornout who saw his chances of a good race vanish following a fall in the first corner. Our favorite fought it out with Belgian champion Sven Nys at the end of the second lap for the intermediate sprint points. Zdenek came out on top after a hard fought duel.
After the sprint the lead group, which contained teammates Bart Wellens and Kevin Pauwels, came back together and saw several accelerations. Bart Aernouts and Niels Albert were also up front, but Albert could do little more than hang on. The decisive moment didn't come until the last lap.
Nys, Pauwels and our world champion appeared to be the strongest and all took turns in the lead during an exciting finale. Pauwels went to the front at the right time, profited from a hitch by the other two in the sand and opened up a gap. Zdenek couldn't quite keep up, but was very pleased with his performance. His knee didn't give him any problems and he retains his lead in the overall GvA Trophy standings.
