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Belgian Cyclo-cross Championships - CN
Hamme Zogge, Belgium, January 6-7, 2007
2006 Results Results Past winners
Wellens wins good old mud fight
Niels Albert extends his U23 title
By Brecht Decaluwé
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Last week's typical Belgian weather near Hamme-Zogge forced the riders to run more than they are used to. Before the start, UCI-leader Sven Nys (Rabobank) said that he felt this wasn't a cyclo-cross course at all. "This is something for cross country runners, not for cyclists!" said Nys.
His main rival Bart Wellens (Fidea) didn't stop smiling before the start because he felt the circumstances were really special. "It shouldn't be like this every week, but the conditions will deliver a spectacle, and the strongest rider will win, although I don't know if I'll say the same thing after the race," Wellens joked. The rider from Vorselaar had a bad start, but by the end of the second lap, he joined Nys in front.
During the fifth of only six laps, Nys' front wheel got stuck in the mud giving Wellens the ideal opportunity to launch an attack. The gap was immediately 15 seconds and whatever Nys tried, he couldn't come back on Wellens who, bursting with energy, reclaimed the national jersey he already grabbed in 2004.
"I had a bad start, but when I got back to Nys, I felt stronger than him. I waited on some mistakes from him, and when he crashed I didn't wait for him to come back and went full on," Wellens said. "I suffered a lot during the last lap and almost didn't dare to look back. Some spectators were jeering but I think most people will be happy to see all jerseys back in cyclo-cross," the new Belgian champion explained on Ka2-TV.
Nys couldn't get back up to Wellens and said he wasn't too disappointed with this loss. "I did what I could, but Wellens ran much better than I did," Nys explained. "I crashed in a stupid way when I touched a lapped rider's back wheel [TV images showed he didn't touch the bike from Guy Bertels (Demerspurters)]. There are more races coming up, so I look forward to them," Nys said.
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A surprising face at second place was young Klaas Vantornout (Fidea) who ultimately overtook Nys. "This is completely unexpected! I felt alright and this course suits me but still…" Vantornout couldn't believe what he had done.. "This is a crown on my season and a dream that comes true," said Vantornout, who took another big step forward this season said.
World champion Erwin Vervecken (Fidea) has been unable to pull off a great season and he continued his bad string of races with a disappointing fifth place on a course that should suit him perfectly. The retiring Peter Van Santvliet (Fidea) made the success from Fidea complete by winning the amateur title. "Hopefully I can show the jersey during races," the 37-year-old said.
Right before the elite riders dabbled through the mud, Niels Albert (Palmans) defended his U-23 Belgian title. "It wasn't that hard to win here, but this course forces you to dig deep," Albert said, "the best runners are automatically moving to the front." Albert was asked whether he shouldn’t be competing with the big guys as he should be able to reach that level. "Maybe next year as the course suits me better then," Albert replied.
How it unfolded
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The young wolves managed the hole shot with Klaas Vantornout, Kevin Pauwels, Wesley Vanderlinden, and Bart Aernouts. Bart Wellens suffered a bad start while Pauwels continued in front on his own. Halfway through the first lap, Sven Nys moved forward and overtook Pauwels with Sven Vanthourenhout, Erwin Vervecken, Wellens, Vantornout and Jan Soetens not too far behind. At the end of each lap, riders had to run through a few hundred metres of mud where Vervecken and Wellens could demonstrate their excellent running skills. After one lap, Wellens was riding 12 seconds behind Nys, and Tom Vannoppen abandoned the race.
Three Fidea riders were riding together behind Nys: Vantornout, Vervecken, and Wellens; but helping each other wasn't possible today. By the end of the second lap, Wellens joined Nys in the lead with Vervecken at eight seconds, and Vantornout at 10 seconds. Aernouts, Vanthourenhout, and Van Santvliet (first non-professional rider) were one minute down on Nys and Wellens; four men would battle for the jersey. Wellens took the initiative during the third lap, but Nys stood tall; Vervecken and Vantornout got distanced at 15 seconds by the coup-de-force of Wellens. With three laps to go, the tandem Wellens-Nys was 26 seconds ahead of Vervecken-Vantornout.
The race turned out to become a classic duel between arch rivals Nys and Wellens. A crash from Nys. while trying to overtake Guy Bertels, granted Wellens a nice gap of 15 seconds. Vantornout and Vervecken were back 45 seconds by the end of the fourth lap, with their lap times increasing. Nys tried everything to come back, but by the end of the long running sections, the gap was close to a half a minute. Vantornout was one minute down on Wellens. Vervecken came in fourth at almost two minutes, and Vanthourenhout passed the world champion going into the ultimate lap.
Nys kept losing ground while Wellens literary ran to the national title. Vantornout managed to overtake a disappointed Nys to grab silver. Nys has some work to do to prepare himself for the worlds given that he was also overtaken by Vanthourenhout. Peter Van Santvliet (Fidea) finished sixth and grabbed the national amateur title. Aernouts, David Willemsens, Soetens, and Arne Daelmans completed the top10.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Luc Claessen/www.ctm-images.com
- Bart Aernouts
- A delighted Bart Wellens on the podium
- Bart Wellens celebrates his second national title.
- Wellens had plenty of time to celebrate, winning by over a minute.
- Bart Wellens used his running skills to great effect today.
- David Willemsens was second in the non-professional elite category.
- Dieter Vanthourenhout running to third place in the under 23 men's race.
- World champion Erwin Vervecken goes after the leading duo.
- A happy Wellens regained the jersey he won in 2004.
- Jan Verstraeten shows some serious race face.
- Kenny Geluykens in the under 23 race.
- Kevin Pauwels.
- Niels Albert will wear the Belgian champion's jersey for the second consecutive year.
- Niels Albert was head and shoulders above the rest, winning by over two minutes.
- Deep mud made many parts of the course unrideable.
- Niels Albert going solo on his way to victory.
- Sven Nys leading in the early stages.
- Nys crashed when his front wheel got stuck in the mud.
- Amateur winner Peter Van Santvliet with his father and Roland Liboton.
- Philippe Gilbert had a tough time today, finishing over ten minutes down on Wellens.
- The elite men's podium (l-r): Klaas Vantornout, Bart Wellens and Sven Nys.
- The amateur men's podium (l-r): David Willemsens, Peter Van Santvliet and Arne Daelmans.
- The under 23 men's podium (l-r): Rob Peeters, Niels Albert and Dieter Vanthourenhout.
- A typical scene from today's racing.
- Is this a cross country race?
- Rob Peeters, second in the under 23 race.
- Sven Nys looking focused.
- Sven Nys on the first lap.
- Sven Vanthourenhout was fourth today.
- The deep mud turned most events into a running race.
- Under 23 riders wading through the mud.
- Wellens and Nys leading.
- Bart Wellens' fan club.
Results
Day 1 - January 6: Juniors, Novices, Masters B & C
Juniors 1 Jim Aernouts 40.05 2 Stef Boden 0.50 3 Vincent Baestaens 1.07 4 Joeri Adams 1.14 5 Sven Verboven 1.52 6 Kristof Scheirs 2.13 7 Kevin Eeckhout 2.40 8 Stijn Mortelmans 3.02 9 Tim Debusschere 3.24 10 Nick De Proost 3.29 11 Dries Ingels 3.34 12 Kaell Pizzy 3.44 13 Simon Geets 14 Sylvester Sioen 4.24 15 Sven Beelen 4.44 16 Kenneth Bultynck 5.00 17 Vincent Meyvis 18 Jarno Van de Casteele 5.05 19 Michiel Dieleman 5.07 20 Sander Elen 5.15 21 Dany Lacroix 5.21 22 Jens Gys 5.37 23 Kristof Cop 5.53 24 Jonathan Bervoets 5.56 25 Peter Verstockt 5.59 26 Bart Hermans 6.16 27 Kim Goethals 6.31 28 Kenneth Mariën 6.40 29 Yannick Pauwels 6.50 30 Matthias Onghena 7.02 31 Kevin Van Synghel 7.15 32 Thomas Gysbrechts 7.24 33 Kenneth De Kerf 34 Stijn Van Driessche 7.37 35 Dimitri Stevens 8.14 36 Kenny Maes 8.30 37 Lorenzo Messine 8.34 38 Mike Vreys 8.48 39 Ben Remijsen 9.20 40 Stijn Van Geyte 9.27 41 Zeb Willems 9.29 42 Bert Vermeiren 10.11 43 Sam Van Hemelen 10.27 One lap down 44 Hendrik Van den Bossche op 45 Floris Fagoo 46 Dimi Diels 47 Sam Van Uytvange 48 Klaas Louwagie 49 Joachim Janssens 50 Vincent Van Hooste 51 Jordan Becquet Two laps down 52 Michael De Meyer op Beginners 1 Sean De Bie 29.56 2 Gerry Druyts 1.12 3 Angelo De Clercq 1.37 4 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck 2.12 5 Zico Waeytens 2.28 6 Robin Poelvoorde 2.47 7 Vinnie Braet 2.51 8 Xandro Meurisse 3.00 9 Robin De Cnodder 3.12 10 Wietse Bosmans 11 Zeb Veestraeten 3.17 12 Sieën Veestraeten 13 Matthias Bossuyt 14 Niels Wytinck 3.35 15 Valentijn Van de Velde 16 Niels Koyen 17 Thomas Verbeek 18 James Laureys 3.50 19 Christophe Ysenbaardt 20 Hendrik Sweeck 4.18 21 Senne Lemmens 4.41 22 Raf Risbourg 23 Frederik Geerts 5.10 24 Dieter Eyskens 5.35 25 Gert-Jan Opsomer 26 Tim Wellens 5.42 27 Ritchie Denolf 28 Niels Meeusen 6.00 29 Jelle Cant 6.29 30 Michael Peeters 6.40 31 Bert Noterman 32 Bart De Vocht 33 Maxim Danckers 7.05 34 Bart De Bondt 7.20 35 Jens Adams 36 Andy Wagemans 37 Jelle Dejonghe 7.35 38 Dylan Teuns 39 Karl Peeters 7.50 40 Thomas Van Overbeke 7.59 41 Laudelino Lammens 8.14 42 Robin Laureyns 43 Jens Costers 8.40 44 Koen Vandeput 45 Sonny Volders 9.00 46 Simon Declercq 47 Matthias Siracusa 48 Kristof Van den Eynde 49 Rutger La Haye 50 Kevin Reynders 9.25 51 Tijs Van Aert 52 Elias Hoop 53 Nick Van den Eynde 54 Matthias Vermeire 55 Rinze De Proost 56 Jordy Van Staeyen 10.00 57 Jeffrey Mellemans 10.40 58 Jordan Aerts One lap down 59 Jelle Storms op 60 Toni Geeraerts 61 Matthias Coucquyt 62 Joris Tips 63 Ingmar Uytdewilligen 64 Niels Van Gysegem 65 Wim Allary Masters B 1 Mario Lammens 36.44 2 Hans Wuyts 0.03 3 Marc Druyts 0.44 4 Dirk Mertens 1.09 5 Dirk Gebruers 1.13 6 Eric Gys 1.16 7 Mark Verloo 1.19 8 Peter Ballet 2.16 9 Patrick Sluyts 2.34 10 Erik Teck 2.51 11 Danny Verhestraeten 3.17 12 Frans Ceulemans 4.03 13 Johan Vanderaerden 4.30 14 René Swinnen 4.41 15 Wim Krieckemans 4.52 16 Alex Van Acker 4.58 17 Alfons Schuttes 18 Patrick Neufcourt 5.18 19 Herman Cop 5.26 20 Ronny Lambrechts 6.03 21 Mark Meys 6.52 22 Ghislain Vanbruaene 7.15 23 Rudy Bloemmen 7.34 24 Jos Verdeyen 8.42 One lap down 25 Lucien Van Wambeke op 26 Luc Ruys 27 Johan Meeus 28 Leopold Vermeiren 29 Ronny Goethals 30 Luc De Poorter 31 Pascal Dysserinck 32 Eric De Graef Two laps down 33 Patrick Wagemans op 34 Mark Vanloffelt Masters C 1 Ronald De Scheemaeker 38.15 2 Luc Huysveld 0.20 3 François Mertens 0.31 4 Pierrot Potargent 1.09 5 José De Clercq 1.12 6 Jos Sas 2.04 7 Ludo Van Tichelt 8 Robert De Vos 2.10 9 Daniel Van Oosterwijck 2.36 10 Romaan Boelens 3.37 11 Jan Guido Geudens 3.46 12 Etienne Van de Velde 4.20 13 Eddy Cobbaut 4.40 14 Luc Vanrokeghem 4.57 15 Chris Geerts 5.06 16 Martin De Cock 5.08 17 Luc Van Wesenbeeck 5.15 18 Dirk Van Sinay 5.17 19 William Govaert 5.54 20 Edward Lievens 6.23 21 Willy Minnen 7.14 22 Leo De Busser 8.27 23 Guy Ceuppens 9.06 24 Romain Tuteleers 10.30 One lap down 25 Florent Van Eyken op 26 Johan Govaerts 27 Eric Dhondt 28 Adrien De Cnuydt 29 Nico Wijnen 30 Alex Spruyt 31 Eric Weylandt 32 Albert Bertels 33 Laurent De Vos 34 Jackie De Meester 35 Marcel Geerts 36 Roland Hurtecant Courtesy of Mark Van Landeghem
Day 2 - January 7: Elite/U23 Men, Elite Women, Junior Women, Masters A, Amateurs
Elite Men 1 Bart Wellens 59.50 2 Klaas Vantornout 1.11 3 Sven Nys 1.24 4 Sven Vanthourenhout 2.01 5 Erwin Vervecken 3.32 6 Peter Van Santvliet* 4.26 7 Bart Aernouts 4.51 8 David Willemsens* 5.26 9 Jan Soetens 5.50 10 Arne Daelmans* 6.38 11 Wesley Van der Linden 6.50 12 Stijn Penne 7.06 13 Jan Verstraeten 8.00 14 Bjorn Rondelez 8.21 15 Jom Van der Veken 8.45 16 Tom De Kort 9.08 17 Nico Clarysse 9.55 18 Mike Thielemans 10.20 19 Philippe Gilbert 10.35 20 Gerry Werckx 10.45 21 Christophe Roodhooft 11.05 22 Nicky David 11.07 23 Bert De Wispelaere 11.35 One lap down 24 Steven De Caluwe 25 Steve Gruwier 26 Bjorn Traen 27 Geert Van Crombruggen 28 Tom Pynaert 29 Geert Wellens 30 Stefan Nerinckx 31 Ken Smets 32 Wim Maes 33 Frederick Vandevivere 34 Pascal Raes 35 Geert Mijngheer 36 Jo Naert 37 Steven De Schoesitter 38 René Mertens 39 Guy Bertels 40 Roy Janssens 41 Freddy De Meester * Indicates non-professional division Under 23 1 Niels Albert 51.24 2 Rob Peeters 2.10 3 Dieter Vanthourenhout 2.53 4 Tom Van den Bosch 3.13 5 Quentin Bertholet 3.21 6 Dries Dewit 3.45 7 Dave De Cleyn 4.00 8 Kenneth Van Compernolle 4.16 9 Stijn Huys 4.47 10 Kay Van den Brande 4.42 11 Dennis Vanendert 12 Thomas Vernaeckt 5.31 13 Tom Meeusen 6.13 14 Kenny Geluykens 6.32 15 Kevin Cant 6.46 16 Maxim Debusschere 6.59 17 Jan Van Dael 18 Davy De Scheemaeker 19 Wim Leemans 7.55 20 Bart Verschueren 8.22 21 Dries Govaerts 9.48 One lap down 22 Jan Van Zeebroeck 23 Gianni Denolf 22 Gregory Franckaert 25 Kristof Zegers 26 Jo Pirotte 27 Wim Thijs 28 Thomas Boeckx 29 Ward Demets 30 Nivard Van Acker 31 Matthias Onghena 32 Dries Pauwels 33 Kristof Luyten Two laps down 34 Koen Boelens 35 Rob Vangenechten 36 Steven Schol 37 Hans Van den Bogaert 38 Tim Milis 39 Pieter Reekmans. Elite women 1 Loes Sels 41.19 2 Katrien Aerts 0.27 3 Hilde Quintens 1.02 4 Joyce Vanderbeken 2.23 5 Ludivine Henrion 2.49 6 Kathy Ingels 2.52 7 Katrien Pauwels 4.44 8 Anja Nobus 5.13 9 Gertie Willems 7.37 10 Mélissa Flagothier 9.20 11 Sharon Defoor 11.37 12 Limke Peeters 14.07 One lap down 13 Sofie De Nys 14 Sandie Verriest Junior Women 1 Sanne Cant 28.23 2 Ilse Vanderkinderen 1.07 3 Kelly Druyts 1.31 4 Maaike Polspoel 1.50 5 Anne Arnouts 2.14 6 Veronique Staes 3.00 7 Katrien Vermeiren 6.59 8 Karen Verhestraeten 7.29 9 Kim Van Renterghem 10.35 10 Sarah Vloemans 15.30 One lap down 11 Sarah Lieksn 12 Katia Verstraete Amateurs 1 Koen Diels 47.39 2 Andy Van der Plaetsen 1.08 3 Gert Bevers 1.44 4 Thomas Ingels 2.23 5 Nico Van Assche 3.13 6 Tim Goris 3.23 7 Christophe Vandevivere 4.18 8 Jan Gevers 5.48 9 Jurgen Van Wambeke 5.53 One lap down 10 Kris Maes op 11 Bart Dubin 12 Tim Vreys 13 Kenneth Speltinck 14 Sven Bolyn 15 Davy De Taeye Masters A 1 Wim Jansen 44.17 2 Timmy Maes 0.32 3 Marnik Snoeck 1.12 4 Ivan Smet 1.45 5 Nico Schroyen 1.57 6 Axel Naessens 2.27 7 Sven Raeymakers 2.29 8 Kris De Nys 2.35 9 Kris Ceulemans 4.12 10 Friedrich Sels 4.40 11 Ward Huybrechts 5.08 12 Jos Van Looy 5.30 13 Gunther Helsen 5.39 14 Davy Paeshuyse 5.50 15 Françis Penders 5.53 16 Nico Bogaert 6.10 17 Jelle Vets 18 Lino Colombo 7.23 One lap down 19 Glenn Boeckx 20 Wim De Witte 21 Bert Mellaerts 22 Kristof Vanderheyden 23 Dirk Veldeman 24 Kurt Cnudde 25 Jurgen Standaert 26 Koen Van Gysel 27 Rik De Groote 28 Gerrit Segers 29 Joachim Michels 30 Barry Vissers 31 Wim Vermeiren 32 Carlo Allaert 33 Bert Nijs Courtesy of Mark Van Landeghem
Past winners
Men 2006 Sven Nys (Rabobankk) 2005 Sven Nys (Rabobank) 2004 Bart Wellens (Spaar Select) 2003 Sven Nys (Rabobank) 2002 Mario De Clercq (Domo-Farm Frites) 2001 Mario De Clercq (Domo-Farm Frites) 2000 Sven Nys (Rabobank) Espoirs/U23 2006 Niels Albert (Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop) 2005 Jan Soetens 2004 Wesley Van der Linden 2003 Wesley Van der Linden (Brakel) 2002 Wim Jacobs 2001 Sven Vanthourenhout Women 2006 Hilde Quintens 2005 Veerle Ingels (Vlaanderen - Capri Sonne - T Interim) 2004 Anja Nobus 2003 Hilde Quintens (Lummen) 2002 Anja Nobus 2001 Kathleen Vermeiren Juniors 2006 Dennis Vanendert 2005 Pieter Vanspeybroeck (Ruiselede) 2004 Niels Albert 2003 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Wingene) 2002 Kevin Pauwels 2001 Geert Wellens Novices 2006 Sean De Bie 2005 Joeri Adams (Minderhout) 2004 Tom Meeusen 2003 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Ruiselede) 2002 Niels Albert Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
