2014 UCI WC Namur men

The technically challenging Namur WC was won by Kevin Pauwels (BEL) ahead of Lars Van Der Haar (NED) and Philipp Walsleben (GER), and we have tons of images from the race.

Even the most seasoned and skilled athletes find themselves struggling in this section of the Namur course.

Jeremy Powers before the race with ace shooter Tom Prenen.

Throngs of fans were in place before the front row of men was called up.

Even the back row of starters is well known and liked by the fans.

Swiss Marcel Wildhaber drew first blood and set the early pace.

With a deep men's field the battle for positions was fierce.

As we mentioned earlier, the fans arrived early and in large numbers for this race.

Early on Lars Van Der Haar moved to the front to take charge of the race.

Gianni Vermeersch comes over a little riser here that is followed by a good drop.

Riders opted for one of these three distinctive lines through this section.

Tom Meeusen managed to keep pace with Lars Van Der Haar and the 2 set the pace for a while.

German Philipp Walsleben had a solid day in Namur and was rewarded with a podium spot for his effort.

Dutch youngster David Van Der Poel grabbed 12th place in Namur.

Jeremy Powers was best place American in 16th place.

With a couple laps to go Corne Van Kessel came across the line in 5th place and that is how he finished the day.

Tom Meeusen could not hold the pace of Van Der Haar and dropped back to fourth place.

The kit of Fabien Canal is very distinctive.

Kevin Pauwels worked his way to Van Der Haar and then snagged the win.

The face of Tom Meeusen speaks volumes.

All images © Tom Prenen