Pauwels to retire.
 

A great rider that ran into the Nys buzz saw. https://www.cxmagazine.com/kevin-pau...019-13-seasons

On the lighter side:

He was one my favorites he back in the day. One of the few that would give Nys a run for his money. When Nys retired I thought he would be on top for awhile but I guess age and the young guns had other plans.

Yup, I was thinking about just this - Pauwels was top tier for a while, with steady World Champ medals and a number of World Cup overall victories. But rather than take the reigns, he found himself outclassed by that new crop of riders. He's not the only person to take an early retirement because of MVDP and Wout.