The European Cyclocross sea­son clicked into top gear last week­end with the first round of the Superprestige series in Ruddervoorde, and Colnago bikes took not only the win but also sec­ond place too!

The Superprestige is one of three sea­son long com­pe­ti­tions that rep­re­sent the pin­na­cle of cyclocross, the other two being the GVA Trophy that starts this com­ing week­end, and finally the UCI World Cup which begins the fol­low­ing week­end. These races ensure that there is top flight action just about every week­end from October to February and main pro­tag­o­nists keep us intrigued race after race.

Living leg­end Sven Nys is the undis­puted King of ‘Cross, and the Superprestige is his series. He has won it 11 times in the last 14 years which is a truly remark­able feat. He started his assault on this sea­son last week in fine style with that vic­tory in the open­ing round.

But fin­ish­ing in sec­ond place and push­ing Nys all the way to a sprint fin­ish was Niels Albert, the cur­rent World Champion. He also gets to ride a Colnago Cross Prestige with his team, BKCP - Powerplus, mean­ing that the two main pro­tag­o­nists are lead­ing the pack on Colnago bikes.

That Albert rides a bike that was devel­oped with input from his biggest rival is an intrigu­ing twist, but clearly he has bonded with it. Although he has fin­ished run­ner up to Nys in the last three out­ings, it is very much early days yet this sea­son, and depend­ing what his objec­tives are he might not reach peak fit­ness until later on. If this is the case then Nys will have his work cut out.

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