Walking around the men's race, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans, many armed with air horns, pink wigs and funny neon warm-up suits, we wondered what it must mean to these riders to win Houffalize. It may not be the best course in the world, but it's the most packed, fastest-moving, dynamic track on the circuit. And it never fails to bring out the crowds.

"I always dreamed about winning here in Houffalize," said men's winner Christoph Sauser (SUI, Volvo Cannondale) after we put that question to him. Donning his big cow-print top hat at the finish, he confirmed, "For me to win here is a big dream come true."

Sauser, or "Susi" to his friends, had just earned the most dominant win of his career, towing a record field of 209 of the best racers in the world around five laps of torture and winning decisively. No one had flatted out of the lead and no one's bike exploded. Christoph simply outraced everyone.

"I crashed in the last corner on the slippery rocks," offered 2nd place finisher Roel Paulissen (BEL, Rainer-Wurz). So technically Sauser could have had a close finish, but as it was he beat Roel by 11 seconds after the Belgian picked up his ailing body and finished.

"We didn't get to have a sprint finish," lamented Roel.

"I felt confident throughout the race," Sauser said after his win as he sat next to Paulissen (BEL, Rainer-Wurz) in front of the TV cameras. Paulissen had been the only other rider able to go with Sauser in the final lap when the attack finally went down. Roland Green (CAN, Trek-Volkswagen) had initiated the attack at the top of the tough paved climb in the final lap, but after riding up front with the "magnificent seven" for several laps, Green faded to ultimately finish 5th.

This left Sauser and Paulissen trading leads up front, while 20 seconds back another pair, in the persons of Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Specialized) and Bart Brentjens (NED, Giant Bicycle), from the shattered lead pack chased. Minutes later those same five men would finish, saving the exciting racing for the final lap.

"In the last lap I got a gap with Roel, then he closed the gap and led," said Sauser. "In the next downhill I passed him, but he came back so I knew I had to be first into the final downhill section. I didn't want him to lead there."

"We were all kind of looking at each other [in the last lap]," added Paulissen "but after a descent, Christoph attacked and I was at the end of the break group in 4th position. But I attacked and caught him, and we had 15 to 20 seconds on everyone else. He then took 10 seconds out of me on the last downhill, but I closed again at the river near the finish line before I crashed."

While Susi and Roel were dicing it out up front for the win, Meirhaeghe went at it with last week's winner Brentjens for 3rd.

"I had a bad start, but a good race," said the ever-articulate Meirhaeghe. "I felt better than last week when I had just come from the road and didn't have the right rhythm for top-level mountain bike racing."

Meirhaeghe had ridden with the lead seven, then the lead six and finally the lead five going into the final lap. "At the last lap we all attacked at the same place, but you had to race meter by meter - it was like a time trial," he said.

Finally we wondered what it must be like for a Belgian to be racing up front at Houffalize. "The fans were great," enthused Meirhaeghe. "They gave me goosebumps - it gave me the motivation to hang on." Roel added, "It was such a good feeling and really helped mentally, especially on the climbs."

With his 4th-place finish, Brentjens retains the leader's jersey for another week, 30 points ahead of Paulissen, who with his ambitious new team is, thus far, enjoying his best season ever.

The XC riders now take a month off before another classic in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec.

Meanwhile, this next weekend it's time for downhill and quad action from Scotland, as that World Cup season starts right near Loch Ness. Don't miss that one and we'll see you at the races!

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent