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Coupe du Monde Cyclo-Cross #4 - CDM
Wetzikon, Switzerland, January 19, 2003
Wellens wins in Wetzikon
Belgian Bart Wellens has once again taken the lead in the Cyclo-cross World Cup, winning the fourth round in snowy Wetzikon, Switzerland. Wellens found himself alone in the lead after Sven Nijs suffered a mechanical problem on the final lap, winning by 29 seconds from Mario De Clercq (Bel) and Ben Berden (Bel). He now has a 15 point buffer over De Clercq in the World Cup standings, with just one more round to be raced in Hoogerheide on February 16.
Today's parcours was rough, hard packed and set against a beautiful backdrop of white Swiss snow, appreciated by the fans more than the competitors. The start saw Sven Nijs, riding in what is quite possibly his last cyclo-cross season before turning to the road full time, attack from the beginning to establish a small lead. However despite two laps in front, his gap was never more than 5 seconds.
On the third of ten laps, Ben Berden caught Nijs, with De Clercq, Wellens and Erwin Vervecken close behind. The five Belgian riders in top five clearly showed the power and superiority of Belgium in this discipline of cycling. The next best was Dutchman Richard Groenendaal, who decided to start in Wetzikon despite suffering from a hamstring injury earlier this week.
Ben Berden faded by halfway, as Nijs was joined by Wellens. The two leaders had 10 seconds over De Clercq, and it began to increase as the laps ticked by. With one lap to go, it was clear that the race would be fought out between these two young Belgians, as they had 30 seconds on De Clercq and Berden.
Then disaster struck Nijs on the final lap. A mechanical problem forced him to carry his bike on his shoulders to the boxes. For few but decisive metres, Nijs turned from a cyclo-cross rider into a very cross man. Wellens won the race easily then, as Nijs struggled home 47 seconds behind in fourth. De Clercq and Berden filled the second and third places.
Lap by Lap
Lap 1 Sven Nijs decides to breakaway from the start. His solo isn't
too fruitful - a 5" gap was the best he managed during his two laps in front
- but was enough to sort out the best riders from the main group.
Lap 3 Ben Berden catches Nijs and both riders are few meters ahead of
World champion Mario De Clercq, Bart Wellens and Erwin Vervecken.
Lap 5 Now there's a trio in front of the race. Nijs, Berden and Wellens,
who crossed the finish line at the end of the lap 8 seconds in front of De Clercq
and Vervecken.
Lap 6 The dream is over for Ben Berden. The two favourites Nijs and Wellens
leave him behind to complete another lap with a 10" gap to Berden and Mario
De Clercq. Vervecken appears to be too far behind - 29 seconds back from the
leaders.
Lap 7 Nijs and Wellens increase their advantage over Berden and De Clercq
to 18 seconds. The winner will come from one of these two. Dutchman Richard
Groenendaal knows that he'll lose his World Cup leader's status by the end of
the day. After a race from back to front, Groenendaal is now 6th but is 52"
behind Nijs and Wellens.
Lap 8 For Berden and De Clercq the race is definitely over as they cross
30 seconds behind Nijs and Wellens.
Lap 10 The unexpected happens on the last lap. A mechanical incident
forces Sven Nijs to carry his bike on shoulders to the boxes. Wellens wins and
takes the World Cup lead.
Courtesy of João Cravo
Results
Elite Men 1 Bart Wellens (Bel) 2 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 0.29 3 Ben Berden (Bel) 0.36 4 Sven Nijs (Bel) 0.47 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1.04 6 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 1.12 7 Petr Dlask (Cze) 1.19 8 Christian Heule (Swi) 1.36 9 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 1.42 10 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) 11 Dominique Arnould (Fra) 12 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 2.09 13 Amaud Labbe (Fra) 2.17 14 Jonathan Page (USA) 2.30 15 John Gadret (Fra) 2.43 16 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 2.57 17 Michael Baumgartner (Swi) 3.06 18 David Derepas (Fra) 3.27 19 Françis Mourey (Fra) 3.45 20 Matthew Ellis (GBr) 3.53 21 Stefano Toffoletti (Ita) 4.07 22 Martin Zlamalik (Cze) 23 Jan. Ramsauer (Swi) 24 Thijs Verhagen (Ned) 25 Radomir Simunek (Cze) 4.25 26 Roger Hammond (GBr) 27 David Rusch (Swi) 28 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 4.48 29 Wilant Van Gils (Ned) 5.05 30 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 5.22 31 Jean Baptiste Beraud (Fra) 5.34 32 Dariusz Gil (Pol) 33 David Collins (GBr) 5.46 34 Maik Mueller (Ger) 6.01 35 Robert Glajza (Svk) 36 Hannes Genze (Ger) 37 Alessandro Fontana (Ita) 6.20 38 Radoslaw Czapla (Pol) 6.35 39 Michele Sbetta (Ita) 7.31 40 Marek Cichosz (Pol) 1 lap 41 Steven Roach (GBr) 42 Thorsten Struch (Ger) 43 Pawel Cierpikowski (Pol) DNF Daniele Pontoni (Ita) DNF Enrico Franzoi (Ita) DNF Marco Paludetti (Ita) DNF Vaclaf Metlicka (Svk) DNF Pavel Medved (Svk) DNF Leo Karstens (Ger) DNF Camiel Van Den Bergh (Ned) DNF Tomas Trunschka (Cze) DNF Marian Hecl (Svk) DNF Robert Glovniak (Svk) DNF Stefan Gajdosik (Svk) DNF Tyson Apostol (USA) DNF Peter Presslauer (USA) DNF Jens Reuker (Ger) DNF Christian Wassmer (Ger) Starters: 58 Classified: 43 U23 Men 1 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) 2 Flavio Alex Longhi (Ita) 3 Simon Zahner (Swi) 4 Geert Wellens (Bel) 0.08 5 Steve Chainel (Fra) 6 Bart Aernouts (Bel) 0.29 7 Klaas Vontornout (Bel) 0.48 8 Martin Bina (Cze) 0.55 9 Michael Müller (Swi) 1.00 10 Sébastien Minard (Fra) 1.09 11 Julien Belgy (Fra) 1.20 12 Wesley Van der Linden (Bel) 13 Pirmin Lang (Swi) 14 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) 15 Josef Soukup (Cze) 2.13 16 Johannes Tschopp (Swi) 17 Fabien Bourly (Fra) 2.31 18 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) 2.52 19 Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) 2.59 20 Enrico Rossi (Ita) 3.07 21 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) 22 Reto Hess (Swi) 3.38 23 Marco Bianco (Ita) 3.49 24 Stefan Trafelet (Swi) 25 Felix Gniot (Ger) 4.02 26 Alain Rey (Swi) 4.11 27 Jochen Uhrig (Ger) 4.20 28 Stanislav Bambula (Cze) 5.08 29 Roger Schuppli (Swi) 5.43 30 Jens Petroll (Ger) 31 Luca Damiani (Ita) 6.40 32 Cyrille Fretz (Fra) 33 Andreas Moser (Swi) 7.05 34 Dominique Gross (Swi) 1 lap 35 Joel Frey (Swi) Starters: 46 Classified: 35 Elite Women 1 Daphny van den Brand (Ned) 2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 3 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 4 Annabella Stropparo (Ita) 0.19 5 Corine Dorland (Ned) 0.51 6 Debby Mansveld (Ned) 7 Birgit Hollmann (Ger) 8 Maria Paola Turcutto (Ita) 1.15 9 Hilde Quintens (Bel) 1.27 10 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) 1.42 11 Nicole De Bie-Luyten (Ned) 1.48 12 Nadia Triquet (Fra) 13 Francesca Cuccinello (Ita) 1.57 14 Anja Nobus (Bel) 15 Katrin Helmcke (Ger) 2.39 16 Alexandra Bähler (Swi) 3.04 17 Vania Rossi (Ita) 3.12 18 Paola Bortolin (Ita) 3.17 19 Alla Epifanova (Rus) 3.27 20 Nathalie Filonczuk (Fra) 3.39 21 Veerle Ingels (Bel) 3.57 22 Suzie Godart (Lux) 4.04 23 Loes Sels (Bel) 4.28 24 Katleen Vermeiren (Bel) 5.02 25 Nicole Kampeter (Ger) 5.18 26 Lea Flückiger (Swi) 6.58 27 Belinda Hirtle (Ger) 1 lap 28 Mirjam Dietzel (Ger) 2 laps Starters: 28 Classified: 28 Juniors 1 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 2 Romain Villa (Fra) 0.05 3 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 0.09 4 Ditier Vantournhout (Bel) 0.25 5 Yves Corminboeuf (Swi) 6 Stefano Basso (Ita) 7 Frantisek Kloucek (Cze) 8 Benjamin Hill (Ger) 0.32 9 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 0.37 10 Lonard M. Optitz (Ger) 11 Jan Sel (Cze) 12 Derik Zampedri (Ita) 0.42 13 Nicolas Belot (Fra) 1.02 14 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) 15 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) 2.00 16 René Lang (Swi) 2.30 17 Raphael Nick (Swi) 18 Finn Heitmann (Ger) 2.51 19 Till Schaltegger (Swi) 20 Beat Bertschinger (Swi) 3.07 21 Gabriele Silvestris (Ita) 3.27 22 Karl Schoknecht (Ger) 3.45 23 Michal Prachar (Svk) 24 Daniel Burkart (Ger) 25 Lubos Hricak (Svk) 4.01 26 Gabriele Mercante (Ita) 27 Jan Krüger (Ger) 28 Daan Jonge De (Ned) 4.12 29 Thomas Gröbl (Ger) 4.33 30 Robin Schmuda (Ger) 5.43 31 Marcel Wyss (Swi) 6.14 32 Lukas Sibr (Svk) 33 Roger Rüegger (Swi) 1 lap 34 Sven Suter (Swi) 35 Peter Ciz (Svk) Starters: 42 Classified: 35
World Cup Standings after Round 4
1 Bart Wellens (Bel) 205 pts 2 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 190 3 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 180 4 Sven Nijs (Bel) 180 5 Ben Berden (Bel) 125 6 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) 102 7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 98 8 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 93 9 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 84 10 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 83 11 John Gadret (Fra) 81 12 Christian Heule (Swi) 81 13 Petr Dlask (Cze) 71 14 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 58 15 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) 57 16 Dominique Arnould (Fra) 51 17 Michael Baumgartner (Swi) 45 18 Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 41 19 Matthew Ellis (GBr) 37 20 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 37 21 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 31 22 David Derepas (Fra) 31 23 Jonathan Page (USA) 26 24 Maarten Nijland (Ned) 24 25 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 22 26 Christophe Morel (Fra) 21 27 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) 20 28 Francis Mourey (Fra) 19 29 Dariusz Gil (Pol) 18 30 Roger Hammond (GBr) 17 31 Thijs Verhagen (Ned) 15 32 Wim De Vos (Ned) 14 33 Jean-Baptiste Beraud (Fra) 13 34 Martin Zlamalik (Cze) 13 35 Robert Glajza (Svk) 13 36 Pawel Cierpikowski (Pol) 11 37 Stefano Toffoletti (Ita) 10 38 David Seco Amundarain (Spa) 10 39 Ramsauer Jan (Swi) 8 40 Luca Bramati (Ita) 7 41 Radomir Simunek (Cze) 6 42 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 6 43 Gusty Bausch (Lux) 5 44 David Rusch (Swi) 4 45 Massimo Sargenti (Ita) 4 46 Michael Müller (Swi) 3 47 Sébastien Minard (Fra) 3 48 Wilant Van Gils (Ned) 3 49 Vaclaf Metlicka (Svk) 2 50 Tommy Nielsen (Den) 1 51 Tomas Trunschka (Cze) 1 Nations 1 Belgium 48 pts 2 Czech Republic 34 3 Netherlands 32 4 France 28 5 Switzerland 24 6 Italy 17 7 Poland 15 8 Great Britain 14 9 Germany 8 10 Slovakia 3 11 Denmark 3 12 USA 2
