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45th Vlaamse Witloof Veldrit - C1
Vossem, Belgium, November 5, 2006
Nys wins final edition of “Witloofveldrit” in Vossem
By Brecht Decaluwe
Most top riders of cyclo-cross travelled from yesterday’s world cup race in Treviso to Vossem. One exception, however, was yesterday’s winner Francis Mourey (AG2R), who didn’t participate in Belgium. The “Witloofveldrit” (witloof is a local vegetable) - has been organized 45 times, and at the moment it doesn’t look like there will be another edition. The organizers apparently stopped enjoying organizing the race, and they’re blaming the UCI and other organizations for a poor date in the race calendar and high starting fees for the riders.
Local rider and big gun Sven Nys enjoyed a great day in Vossem, as he was playing with opposition all race long on the way to grabbed his ninth victory of the season. “It’s sad the race is disappearing, as this is a great course. Really, it is with pain in my heart that I win this last edition,” Nys said after the finish. Another local hero, young Niels Albert, managed to grab second place. “Pursuing and grabbing Nys is impossible now; maybe it’s possible to ride as fast as him but not faster,” Niels Albert explained how good a second place behind Sven Nys can be.
How it unfolded
Twenty minutes were gone before the first big attack was seen, and unsurprisingly it was home rider Sven Nys who attacked. Only John Gadret (AG2R) and Richard Groenendaal (Rabobank) could follow. Davy Commeyne and another home rider Niels Albert came back during the next lap, and as the speed of the leaders went down many riders joined the front.
In a steep descent John Gadret – who rode behind Nys – crashed while breaking too hard. Zdenek Mlynar and Nys profited from the crash as the bunch was held up behind Gadret. When Nys accelerated again the race winner was clear - Nys’ speed was too high for the Czech, who eventually finished seventh. A seemingly relaxed Sven Nys cruised towards victory without any opposition. “During three laps I felt that with one acceleration the others would break. That’s a good feeling, although it was still a long way to the finish, knowing what a hard week we have behind us” Nys said. Behind the winner there was an interesting battle to show who’s the ‘best of the rest’. Eventually Niels Albert proved to be the one, he finished six seconds before John Gadret.
Results
Elite (61 Starters) 1 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 1.01.43 2 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 0.24 3 John Gadret (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 0.30 4 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 0.45 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.52 6 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank 0.55 7 Zdenek Mlynár (Cze) Max Cursor 1.00 8 Wilant Van Gils (Ned) ZZPR.nl 1.05 9 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 1.08 10 Jan Soetens (Bel) 1.14 11 David Willemsens (Bel) Vos Sportief 1.20 12 Isaac Suarez (Spa) 13 Petr Dlask (Cze) AVB Asbestverwijdering 1.35 14 Robert Gavenda (Svk) 1.48 15 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1.54 16 Lukás Kloucek (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 2.10 17 Ondrej Bambula (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 2.15 18 Stijn Penne (Bel) 2.18 19 Andrej Kaiser (Pol) 20 Robert Glajza (Svk) 2.30 21 David Meys (Bel) Profel Cycling Team 2.43 22 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Rabobank 2.50 23 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 2.53 24 Marek Cichosz (Pol) 25 Bart Dirkx (Ned) AA drink-Bejan 3.08 26 Björn Rondelez (Bel) 3.30 27 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) 3.40 28 Frantisek Kloucek (Cze) Author Praha 3.56 29 Daniel Booth (GBr) 4.02 30 David Collins (GBr) 31 Marius Gil (Pol) Strzelce Krajenskie 32 Nico Clarysse (Bel) Saey Deschacht 4.45 33 Jean-Pierre Leijten (Ned) 4.56 34 Dries Dewit (Bel) 5.08 35 Maxim Lefebvre (Fra) 5.20 36 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) 5.25 37 Mike Thielemans (Bel) 6.10 38 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 8.34 39 Karl Schoknecht (Ger) 40 Lukasz Mudyn (Pol) 41 Steven De Caluwé (Bel) 42 Dawid Romanowski (Pol) 43 Tom Pynaert (Bel) 44 Darius Gil (Pol) Paged-MBK-Scout 45 David Menger (Cze) 46 Jorge Rodriguez (Spa) 47 Torsten Wittig (Ger) 48 Pieter Reekmans (Bel) Juniors (31 Starters) 1 Radovan Ramsik (Svk) 2 Jiri Polnicky (Cze) 3 Peter Sagan (Svk) 4 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) 5 Michal Benda (Cze) Scania Apache Team Kolín 6 Bart Hermans (Bel) 7 Filip Adel (Cze) 8 Bart Bruyndonckx (Bel) 9 Yannick Wydooghe (Bel) 10 Kristof Cop (Bel) 11 Marek Konwa (Pol) 12 Rob van der Velde (Ned) 13 Kaell Pizzy (Bel) 14 Kenneth Mariën (Bel) 15 Dimitri Stevens (Bel) 16 Pieter-Jan Pirotte (Bel) 17 Stijn Mortelmans (Bel) 18 Frans Bierens (Ned) 19 Ruben Veestraeten (Bel) 20 Rudy Kowalski (Fra) 21 Jochen Torfs (Bel) 22 Stijn Van Driessche (Bel) 23 Christian Weitermann (Ger) 24 Jonathan Bervoets (Bel) 25 Zeb Willems (Bel) 26 Maël Bantuelle (Bel) 27 Bram Vlasselaer (Bel) 28 Hans Bierens (Ned) Beginners (17 Starters) 1 Robin De Cnodder (Bel) 2 Mike Teunissen (Ned) 3 Dennis Stultiens (Ned) 0.25 4 Zeb Veestraeten (Bel) 0.45 5 Sieën Veestraeten (Bel) 6 Frederik Geerts (Bel) 1.00 7 Jens Costers (Bel) 1.12 8 Leander Bertels (Bel) 9 Kevin Collaer (Bel) 10 Jeffrey Mellemans (Bel) 11 Jordan Aerts (Bel) 12 Koen Vandeput (Bel) 13 Joris Tips (Bel) 14 Matthias Siracusa (Bel) 15 Rutger La Haye (Bel) 16 Robin Delanghe (Bel) Women (23 Starters) 1 Marianne Vos (Ned) 41.26 2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 3 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 0.28 4 Birgit Hollmann (Ger) 0.44 5 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Ned) 0.49 6 Helen Wyman (GBr) 0.56 7 Daphny van den Brand (Ned) 1.09 8 Claudia Seidel (Ger) 1.34 9 Nancy Bollansee (Bel) 1.50 10 Susanne Juranek (Ger) 2.50 11 Hilde Quintens (Bel) 3.01 12 Christine Vardaros (USA) 3.04 13 Anja Nobus (Bel) 3.42 14 Gabriella Day (GBr) 4.34 15 Katrien Aerts (Bel) 4.54 16 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) 5.01 17 Katrien Pauwels (Bel) 5.16 18 Anne Arnouts (Bel) 5.19 19 An Van Rie (Bel) 5.30 20 Ilse Vandekinderen (Bel) 5.53 21 Gertie Willems (Bel) 8.10 22 Katrien Thijs (Bel) 23 Sharon Defoor (Bel) 12.05
