The first UCI World Cup cyclo-cross race ever held in Luxembourg took place in gruelling conditions. Severe snowstorms had closed many roads in Belgium, making car trips impossible for a large number of people. Yet despite the inclement weather, around 3,000 spectators braved the freezing temperatures to watch the race.

With 5cm of snow lying on the ground and a surface that was hard and greasy, the tactical advantage was to ride solo. As the day's final glimmer of sunlight disappeared behind a sky of thick, grey cloud, four riders got the race off to an electrifying start.

Nijs, Mario de Clercq (BEL), Adrie Van der Poel (NED), and Pontoni charged up the 600-metre asphalt track leading to the circuit and made the break that decided the race. On the second lap de Clercq attacked this group and took Pontoni away with him, but hard chasing from those behind brought the two leaders back. Radomir Simunek (CZE) advanced to join the leaders for a few laps and Marc Janssens (BEL) was soon to arrive among the front runners.

Last year's World Cup winner, Richard Groenendaal (NED), had suffered a poor start, as he had done two weeks earlier at round two in the Czech Republic and finished the first lap in 25th place.

Van der Poel, at 39 years the wise old man of the race, rode hard in an attempt to contain Pontoni, who appeared to be in devastating form. The veteran Dutchman, whose cyclo-cross world championships medal collection includes a gold medal, five silvers and one bronze, set a high pace for most of the third lap. But Pontoni was not fooled by this tactic, and neither was he content to let the lead group find a rhythm. On the fourth lap Pontoni began a series of attacks, forcing his rivals to chase hard each time. It was clear that the 32 years-old from the north-eastern corner of Italy was the rider with the best condition.

The 2.7 km course was hard but fair. It contained two sets of woods, one flat the other undulating, and a 10m stair climb on a large mound of earth. There was something for everybody here. Pontoni found the most and used everything he had on the sixth lap. This time Janssens was the only rider with enough energy to keep up, but even this pairing was short lived. By the end of the lap Pontoni was five seconds clear and looked every bit the winner.

With two laps remaining a dense snowfall began. Amid the heavy snowflakes the Italian found his best rhythm and the gap to Janssens widened. The attack had blown apart the chase group. Reigning world champion De Clercq was engaged in a fruitless chase of Janssens, while Nijs and Van der Poel rode together some 15 seconds behind the rainbow jersey. Simunek eventually finished seventh, two places ahead of Groenendaal who had recovered from his poor start to finish the day with 17 valuable world cup points.

Pontoni's win at Leudelange changed his world cup strategy. "I had planned that my main goal would be the world championships, but now I find myself second overall I will try to do something in the world cup." He said after the race. Nijs out-sprinted Van der Poel to claim fourth place, making his world cup lead six points rather than two. The battle for third place is tight, with three riders - Janssens, De Clercq and Groenendaal separated by only two points.

The next race in the series is on 20 December, the GP de Belgique at Koksijde, site of the 1994 world championships where Groenendaal finished second behind Paul Herijgers . Let us cross our fingers and hope that the weather has eased up by then, because it will be a great race to watch. A win for Nijs or Pontoni would damage the world cup prospects of the trio clustered around third place.