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Internationale Veldritten op de Koppenberg (GvA Trofee #1) - C1
Oudenaarde, Belgium, November 1, 2008
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Race 2 - November 1: U23 Men
Walsleben triumphs in Koppenberg mud bath
By Brecht Decaluwé in Melden, Belgium
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One day ahead of the European championships in Liévin most U23 big guns skipped the Koppenbergcross in order to be fresh the next day. That wasn't the case though for German Philipp Walsleben who easily captured the win in Oudenaarde ahead of his Belgian team-mate Sven Verboven and Kevin Cant.
Walsleben had a gap of thirty seconds on his closest rival, but early on in the race there was another rider who was able to match the German's speed around the Koppenberg. Daniel Summerhill rode in the lead together with Walsleben for two laps before bad luck threw him out of the race.
The American was slowly losing pressure in his rear tyre, and since his spare bike had a broken shifter the race was over for the man from Colorado. Winner Walsleben explained that Summerhill was an unexpected strong rider in the race. "I didn't know that he punctured," Walsleben reacted when asked about Summerhill. "I was surprised by his performance, especially his running is great," Walsleben said.
The German expressed the hope to recover quickly from the efforts in the mud bath on the Koppenberg in order to battle for the win in Liévin. Meanwhile Summerhill, a former junior silver medalist at the world championships, was getting warm in the van together with compatriot Bjorn Selander who finished eleventh in Oudenaarde.
Words couldn't describe how the two young riders felt, but seeing them steaming from the cold while covered with mud said it all. The look in Summerhill's eyes when asked whether he felt he would have been able to follow Walsleben spoke volumes. "Yeah, I wasn't planning to let him go," Summerhill said.
Selander complained about the lack of grip in the mud bath during the first half of the race. "I wasn't getting anywhere," Selander said. "Once I had my other tyres I felt much better and I was moving up positions as well." The duo wasn't 100% sure whether they would be racing on Sunday or not. Certainly Summerhill and Selander wouldn't be racing in Liévin where the European championships are held. The Americans may race in Veghel-Eerde where the Superprestige race is held, but the opposition there will not be strong due to the championships.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Brecht Decaluwé
- Heading into the first turn the switch from the asphalt into deep mud was tricky.
- American Daniel Summerhill is checking out his back tyre and he doesn't like what he sees. His puncture just shortly before the racers tackled the Koppenberg was bad timing, as no pit was nearby.
- The racers shortly before the climb of the Koppenberg.
- Summerhill had to abandon the race due to his flat tyre, after a strong start saw him go head to head with eventual winner Philipp Walsleben.
Images by Isosport
- The U23 podium with winner Philipp Walsleben in the centre, second placed Sven Verboven on the left and Kevin Cant.
- Walsleben used his rivals to stay upright on the podium.
Results
1 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 49.23 2 Sven Verboven (Bel) 0.31 3 Kevin Cant (Bel) 1.03 4 Marcel Meisen (Ger) 1.33 5 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) 1.47 6 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) 1.58 7 Stef Boden (Bel) 2.31 8 Dries Dewit (Bel) 2.48 9 Robert Gavenda (Svk) 2.55 10 Rudy Kowalski (Fra) 3.00 11 Bjorn Selander (USA) 3.12 12 Thomas Vernaeckt (Bel) 3.17 13 Gianni Denolf (Bel) 3.35 14 Michiel Dieleman (Bel) 3.40 15 Kaj Slenter (Ned) 4.00 16 Sven Beelen (Bel) 4.01 17 Kristof Cop (Bel) 4.14 18 Jan Van Zeebroeck (Bel) 4.36 19 Mauro Gonzalez (Spa) 4.52 20 Marco Minnaard (Ned) 5.00 21 Kristof Zegers (Bel) 5.11 22 Robby Cobbaert (Bel) 5.34 23 Arnaud Van den Abeele (Bel) 5.55 24 Jonatan Bervoets (Bel) 6.10 25 Mark Smit (Ned) 6.24 26 Dries Pauwels (Bel) 6.36 27 Bart Hermans (Bel) 28 Dennis Verhoeven (Bel) 6.45 29 Jeffrey Depuydt (Bel) 6.49 30 Henryk Cardoen (Bel) 7.20 31 Simon Geets (Bel) 7.32 32 Laurent Moulin (Bel) 7.39 33 Jelle Brackman (Bel) 7.55 34 Tom Desmet (Bel) 8.30 35 Dimitri Stevens (Bel) 8.58 36 Bart Barkhuis (Ned) 9.09 37 Jonas De Boey (Bel) 9.21 38 Thomas Boeckx (Bel) 10.35 39 Dany Lacroix (Bel) 1 lap behind 40 Cristian Izquierdo (Bel) 41 Cees de Ridder (Ned) 42 Laurens Libbrecht (Bel) 43 Amadeusz Rodzinski (Pol) 44 Kenneth Speltinckx (Bel) 45 Lorenzo Messine (Bel) 46 Mateusz Chmurzewski (Pol) 47 Jordan Becquet (Bel) 48 Sonny Vangerven (Bel) 49 Jean-Baptiste Taleux. (Bel) U23 standings 1 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 25 pts 2 Sven Verboven (Bel) 22 3 Kevin Cant (Bel) 19 4 Marcel Meisen (Ger) 17 5 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) 16 6 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) 15 7 Stef Boden (Bel) 14 8 Dries Dewit (Bel) 13 9 Robert Gavenda (Svk) 12 10 Rudy Kowalski (Fra) 11 11 Bjorn Selander (USA) 10 12 Thomas Vernaeckt (Bel) 9 13 Gianni Denolf (Bel) 8 14 Michiel Dieleman (Bel) 7 15 Kaj Slenter (Ned) 6 16 Sven Beelen (Bel) 5 17 Kristof Cop (Bel) 4 18 Jan Van Zeebroeck (Bel) 3 19 Mauro Gonzalez (Spa) 2 20 Marco Minnaard (Ned) 1
