After having ridden 7,500 vertical meters (24,606 ft) in three stages on his STEVENS Sonora SL, Sören Nissen can look back at the event from the very top. He just won the three-day Belgium MTB Challenge. The UCI race was ”very hard from the beginning”, says the Danish Marathon Champion.

Stage 1: 67 Kilometers – 2.225 Vertical Meters (42ml – 7,300 ft)
Race took off in the morning in the city centre of La Roche with lots of spectators along a track that featured an average 20% incline within the first 3km. After an hour 15 riders only remained in the head group among them Belgian National Champion and last year’s winner Sébastien Carabin. Belgian cyclocross team Telenet Fidea with Tom Meeusen even had six riders in the group.
Meeusen was the first to attack in the middle of the race being followed by eight riders. ”I had decided to wait with an attack until 15km before the finish in one of the final long and steep climbs.”

His tactics worked, so Nissen was able to steal more than a minute from Meeusen, Carabin and Frans Claes.

Stage 2: 95 Kilometers 2,350 Vertical Meters (59 ml – 7,700 ft)
Due to him wearing the Yellow Jersey Sören Nissen was the rider everyone was watching closely:
Road Race. Team Telenet Fidea was attacking the whole time, and one rider actually managed to break-away. ”But there were another 75km to go, so I let him go.”

Nissen went for the same tactics as the day before – waiting until the end of the race. On the last ”wall”, 8km before the finish, Nissen took off and won the stage in front of Sébastien Carabin.

Stage 3: 99 Kilometers 2,950 Vertical Meters (62ml – 9,678 ft)
”The stage with lots of climbs, downhills and single trails was easy to ride in terms of tactics: Be part of the head group, don’t crash and don’t waste energy. I came in fourth in a head group of four – being aware of having secured overall victory. I am really happy to have won Belgium’s hardest mountain bike stage race against such a strong competition.”

Nissen won in front of Sébastien Carabin und Frans Claes riding his STEVENS Sonora SL.