Coupe du Monde Cyclo-Cross #2 - CDM

Kalmthout, Belgium, December 22, 2002

2001 Results Results World Cup standings Past winners

Groenendaal beats Belgians on home mud

Dutchman Richard Groenendaal prevented a Belgian party in the second round of the World Cup in Kalmthout, Belgium, winning in convincing fashion from World Champion Mario De Clercq and Bart Wellens. Groenendaal rode strongly in the second half of the race to overtake early leader Ben Berden, and held off De Clercq's late charge to win by eight seconds. He now shares the lead in the World Cup standings with Bart Wellens and Mario De Clercq, all of whom are on 100 points.

The race got off to a fast start with World Cup leader Bart Wellens the best out of the blocks. Wellens was first into the forest on lap one, but was overtaken by his teammate Ben Berden before the end of the lap. Wellens began to lose ground to Berden, and by the third lap he had been caught and passed by Groenendaal, who had started to make his move.

When leader Ben Berden suffered a mechanical problem, Groenendaal went clear and never looked back. The remaining chasers included De Clercq, Wellens, Nijs and Vanthourenhout, but they could not get closer than 30 seconds. But De Clercq decided to give it his all and tried to close the gap to Groenendaal in the last few laps. He overtook the unlucky Ben Berden, but was not strong enough to get Groenendaal and had to settle for second place behind the Dutchman. Berden hung on for third, with Wellens and Nijs taking fourth and fifth respectively.

"I rode my own race," said a satisfied Groenendaal afterwards. "You have to do that in these conditions. I just waited until another rider made a mistake, as I was already riding fast from the second lap."

In the U23 race, Belgians filled the top five with Wesley Van der Linden too good for Klaas Vantornout, Bart Aernouts, Tim Van Nuffel and Kevin Pauwels. In the women's race, Dutch Daphny Van Den Brand led from start to finish to take the victory from Laurence Leboucher and Marianne Vos. The Junior and Novice races were won by Lars Boom (Ned) and Pieter Van Speybroeck (Bel) respectively.

Photography

Images by Mikkeli Godfree

Bart Wellens wins the start
After a mid-week sickness Bart Wellens attempted to defend his World Cup lead by attacking
A solid performance by Bart Wellens was not enough to keep the World Cup leader's jersey
Bart Wellens remounts mid-race
No amount of yelling from the parochial crowd could help Ben Berden as mechanical failure struck
As Ben Berden became the victim of chain problems Mario De Clercq kept the Belgian flame alight
De Clercq showed he is coming to form at the right time with a strong second place
World Champion De Clercq charging on the last lap
Matt Ellis was the best non-continental rider finishing a strong 15th
British rider Shaun Snodden
Moments before Groenendaal fell on one of the many sets of muddy stairs which also claimed De Vos
Richard Groenendaal ruined the day for the Belgians by riding superbly
Richard Groenendaal fended off a late charge from De Clerq to win by 8 seconds
Podium (L to R): Santa, a shivering De Clercq, Groenendaal and Berden

Results

Elite Men
 
1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned)                    1.05.11
2 Mario De Clercq (Bel)                           0.08
3 Ben Berden (Bel)                                0.33
4 Bart Wellens (Bel)                              0.48
5 Sven Nys (Bel)                                  1.59
6 Sven Vanthourenthout (Bel)                      2.34
7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel)                           3.32
8 Gerben de Knegt (Ned)                           3.36
9 Vaclav Jezek (Cze)                              3.47
10 John Gadret (Fra)                              4.09
11 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi)                      5.02
12 Christian Heule (Swi)                          5.14
13 Dariusz Gil (Pol)                              5.22
14 Jiri Pospisil (Cze)                            6.06
15 Matthew Ellis (GBr)                            6.24
16 Enrico Franzoi (Ita)                           6.33
17 Wim de Vos (Ned)                               7.33
18 Michael Baumgartner (Swi)                      7.50
19 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol)                     7.50
20 Dominique Arnould (Fra)                        8.07
21 Arnaud Labbe (Fra)                             8.37
22 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze)                           8.51
23 Robert Glajza (Svk)                            8.57
24 Luca Bramati (Ita)                             9.13
25 Maarten Nijland (Ned)                          9.30
26 Gusty Bausch (Lux)                             9.34
27 Roger Hammond (GBr)                            9.52
28 David Derepas (Fra)                           10.01
29 Pawel Cierpikowski (Pol)                      10.10
30 Tomas Trunschka (Cze)                         10.28
31 Jean-Baptiste Beraud (Fra)                    10.45
32 David Rusch (Swi)                             11.00
33 Simon Zahner (Swi)                            11.32
34 Françis Mourey (Fra)                          12.01
35 Marco Paludetti (Ita)                         12.30
36 Thijs Verhagen (Ned)                         1 Lap
37 Tommy Nielsen (Den)
38 Joachim Parbo (Den)
39 Christian Wasmer (Ger)
 
Starters: 65
Classified: 39
 
Nations
 
1 Belgium                                           12 pts
2 Netherlands                                        9
3 Switzerland                                        8
4 Czech Republic                                     7
5 France                                             6
6 Poland                                             5
7 Italie                                             4
8 Great Britain                                      3
9 Denmark                                            2
10 Luxembourg                                        1
 
Elite Women
 
1 Daphny van den Brand (Ned)                     40.00
2 Laurence Leboucher (Fra)                        1.06
3 Marianne Vos (Ned)                              1.14
4 Hilde Quintens (Bel)                            1.17
5 Anja Nobus (Bel)                                1.47
6 Maryline Salvatat (Fra)                         1.55
7 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Ned)                    2.07
8 Isla Rowntree (GBr)                             2.13
9 Birgit Hollman (Ger)                            2.34
10 Debby Mansveld (Ned)                           2.53
11 Nicole De Bie-Leyten (Bel)                     3.43
12 Corine Dorland (Ned)                           3.57
13 Katleen Vermeiren (Bel)                        4.13
14 Victoria Wilkinson (GBr)                       4.45
15 Nicole Kampeter (Ger)                          5.32
16 Barbora Bohata (Cze)                           5.39
17 Loes Sels (Bel)                                5.50
18 Nancy Bollansee (Bel)                          6.28
19 Nikki Harris (GBr)                             6.34
20 Veronique Belleter (Bel)                       6.44
21 Veerle Ingels (Bel)                            7.42
22 Evy Van Damme (Bel)                            8.27
23 Jindriska Bejstova (Cze)                       8.36
24 Katrien Aerts (Bel)                           10.00
25 Lieselot Sels (Bel)                           11.04
26 Kelly Greefs (Bel)                            11.57
 
Starters: 31
Classified: 26
 
Espoirs/U23
 
1 Wesley Van der Linden (Bel)                    45.38
2 Klaas Vantornout (Bel)                          0.14
3 Bart Aernouts (Bel)                             0.37
4 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel)                            1.42
5 Kevin Pauwels (Bel)                             1.53
6 Martin Zlamanik (Cze)                           2.12
7 Tim Pauwels (Bel)                               2.41
8 Sébastien Minard (Fra)                          2.51
9 Geert Wellens (Bel)                             3.21
10 Nick Sels (Bel)                                3.29
11 Pierre-Bernard Vaillant (Fra)
12 Mike Thielemans (Bel)                          4.13
13 Jorn Van der Veken (Bel)                       4.27
14 Fabien Bourly (Fra)                            4.39
15 David Kasek (Cze)                              4.47
16 Jef  De Boeck (Bel)                            4.55
17 Marc Ernster (Lux)                             5.02
18 Julien Belgy (Fra)                             5.05
19 Jochen Uhrig (Ger)                             5.26
20 Félix Gniot (Fra)                              6.27
21 Jan Geerts  (Bel)
22 Anders-Klinkby Hansen (Den)                    6.56
23 Steven Sluyts (Bel)                            7.07
24 Dirk Bertels (Bel)
25 Lorenzo Vandamme (Bel)                         7.22
26 Bart Thielemans (Bel)
27 Jeroen Nietveld (Bel)
28 Stig Geerts (Bel)
29 Wim De Vries (Bel)
30 Guy Bertels (Bel)
31 Sébastien Durieux (Bel)
 
Starters: 33
Classified: 31
 
Juniors
 
1 Lars Boom (Ned)
2 Niels Albert (Bel)
3 Eddy van IJzendoorn (Ned)
4 Zdenek Stybar (Cze)
5 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)
6 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel)
7 Derek Zanpedri (Ita)
8 Clement Lhotellerie (Fra)
9 Romain Villa (Fra)  (Bel)
10 Dieter Vanthourenhout  (Bel)
11 Jempy Drucker (Lux)  (Bel)
12 Jan Sel (Cze)
13 Finn Heitmann (Ger)
14 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned)
15 Slawomir Pituch (Pol)
16 Thijs van Amerongen (Ned)
17 Stefano Basso (Ita)
18 Harm Van de Kerckhove (Bel)
19 Alois Lievens (Bel)
20 Michal Werstack (Pol)
21 Bart Verschueren (Bel)
22 Maxim Debusschere (Bel)
23 Daan De Jonghe (Ned)
24 Gerald Uytersprot (Bel)
25 Nicolas Belot (Fra)
26 Matthias Collet (Fra)
27 Konrad Opitz (Ger)
28 Jeroen Thielemans (Bel)
29 Kay Van den Brande (Bel)
30 Rikkie Dijkxhoorn (Ned)
31 Adam Gascoigne (GBr)
32 Kevin Van Lierde  (Bel)
33 Peter Van Loo (Bel)
34 Gregory Luca (Lux)
35 Rob Peeters (Bel)
36 Kenny Geluykens (Bel)
37 Giovanni Saman (Bel)
38 Steven Mengels (Ned)
39 Petr Novotny (Cze)
40 Ray Reuter (Lux)
41 Maarten de Jonge (Ned)
42 Enrico Liebe (Ned)
43 Jan Kruger (Ger)
44 Michel Qvindberg (Den)
45 Ian Field (GBr)
46 Cyrille Heymans (Lux)
47 Quincy Vens  (Bel)
48 Nils Ferlin  (Bel)
49 Rick Fransen (Ned)
50 Koen Bertels (Bel)
51 Steve Hoffman (Lux)
52 Tom Broekhuysen (Ned)
53 Dieter jacobs (Bel)
54 Steven Schol (Bel)
55 Tim Milis (Bel)
56 Dieter Schol (Bel)
 
Starters: 57
Classified: 56
 
Novices
 
1 Pieter Van Speybroeck (Bel)
2 Davy De Scheemaeker (Bel)
3 Stijn Van Mooveren (Bel)
4 Jan Aernouts (Bel)
5 Tom Meeusen (Bel)
6 Jan Van Dael (Bel)
7 Jan Van Zeebroeck (Bel)
8 Dries Govaerts (Bel)
9 Wim Leemans (Bel)
10 Ben Aernouts (Bel)
11 Dennis Verhoeven (Bel)
12 Dries Pauwels (Bel)
13 Tom Lambrechts (Bel)
14 Dave De Cleyn (Bel)
15 Kevin Cant  (Bel)
16 Matthias Onghena  (Bel)
17 Davy Vanderstukken (Bel)
18 Steven Wong (Bel)
19 Thomas Boeckx (Bel)
20 Maarten Verherstraeten (Bel)
21 Jelle Schepers (Bel)
22 Gregory Joseph (Bel)
23 Wim Thijs (Bel)
24 Kristof Meulenijzer (Bel)
25 Jeffrey Maes (Bel)
26 Kristof Zegers (Bel)
27 Dirk Van Dijck (Bel)
28 Wim Vanleene (Bel)
 
Starters: 28
Classified: 28

World Cup Standings after Round 2

1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned)                        100 pts
2 Bart Wellens (Bel)                               100
3 Mario De Clercq (Bel)                            100
4 Sven Nys (Bel)                                    80
5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel)                             63
6 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel)                         54
7 Vaclav Jezek (Cze)                                50
8 Gerben de Knegt (Ned)                             48
9 Jiri Pospisil (Cze)                               47
10 Ben Berden (Bel)                                 45
11 John Gadret (Fra)                                37
12 Christian Heule (Bel)                            35
13 Dominique Arnould (Fra)                          31
14 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol)                       30
15 Tom Vannoppen (Bel)                              28
16 Enrico Franzoi (Ita)                             26
17 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze)                             22
18 Arnaud Labbe (Fra)                               22
19 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi)                        20
20 Petr Dlask (Cze)                                 19
21 Dariusz Gil (Pol)                                18
22 Daniele Pontoni (Ita)                            17
23 Matthew Ellis (GBr)                              16
24 Christophe Morel (Fra)                           14
25 Wim de Vos (Ned)                                 14
26 Michael Baumgartner (Swi)                        13
27 Maarten Nijland (Ned)                            12
28 Pawel Cierpikowski (Pol)                         11
29 David Seco (Spa)                                 10
30 Thijs Verhagen (Ned)                              8
31 Robert Glajza (Svk)                               8
32 Françis Mourey (Fra)                              7
33 Luca Bramati (Ita)                                7
34 Roger Hammond (GBr)                               6
35 Mariusz Gil (Pol)                                 5
36 Gusty Bausch (Lux)                                5
37 Martin Zlamanik (Cze)                             4
38 Sébastien Minard (Fra)                            3
39 David Derepas (Fra)                               3
40 Wilant van Gils (Ned)                             1
41 Tomas Trunschka (Cze)                             1
 
Nations
 
1 Belgium                                           24 pts
2 Netherlands                                       17
3 Czech Republic                                    16
4 France                                            13
5 Switzerland                                       12
6 Poland                                            11
7 Italie                                             9
8 Great Britain                                      6
9 Denmark                                            3
10 Germany                                           2
11 Luxembourg                                        1
 
Vlaamse Veldrittrofee Juniores final standings
 
1 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel)                      156 pts
2 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned)                       128
3 Niels Albert (Bel)                               108
4 Bart Verschueren (Bel)                            65
5 Quincy Vens (Bel)                                 64
6 Slawomir Pituch (Pol)                             63
7 Kevin Van Lierde (Bel)                            58
8 Maxim Debusschere (Bel)                           47
9 Jeroen Dingemans (Bel)                            44
10 Kay Van den Brande (Bel)                         41
11 Harm Van de Kerckhove (Bel)                      30
12 Nils Ferlin (Bel)                                29
13 Jeroen Thielemans (Bel)                          27
14 Alois Lievens (Bel)                              15
15 Kenny Geluykens (Bel)                            12

Past winners

2001 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select
2000 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank

Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com