BriefJan Koerts was the fastest sprinter. The start of the race was delayed by a half hour because of administrative problems. The organisation decided to shorten the race once it was ready to go. Of the 59 riders who entered only 23 were elite with contract. And so the GP Willy Teirlinck started. Dutchman Jans Koerts held Ronny De Meuter off in the sprint to take his 15th win of the season. For just about an hour, a group were away - including Danny Swinnen, Wim Omloop, Wilfried Cretskens, Wouter Demeulemeester, Bart Vanstockstraeten, Bart Heirewegh, Bart Everaert, Ronny De Meuter, Sebastien Demarbaix, Andy De Smet, Michel Vanhaecke, Jans Koerts, Brian Dalgaard, Michael Naessens and Scott Guyton.They were joined at the half-way mark by Pavel Khamidoulin, Patrick Stijlemans, Hans Redant, Rik Claeys and Michel Cornelisse. Precisely at that moment Sebastien Demarbaix took his chance. The Walloon rider only was able to build up a maximum gap of 25 seconds. In the finale, the top group splintered into two. The front bunch consisted of Koerts, who had been dominating the premie sprints, and Omloop, Swinnen, Demarbaix, De Meuter, Vanhaecke and De Smet. Jean-Pierre Henderickx, was not far behind. With the chasers bearing down at the end, the sprint for the flowers was between these 7 riders. De Meuter tried to sit and jump but Jans Koerts was too fast. Affligem, 163 kms:1. Jans Koerts (Ned) Rabobak 4.00.00 2. Ronny De Meuter (Bel) Elite 3. Danny Swinnen (Bel) Elite 4. Michel Vanhaecke (Bel) Elite 5. Sebastien Demarbaix (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 6. Andy De Smet (Bel) Ipso 7. Wim Omloop (Bel) Spar-RDM 8. Bart Heirewegh (Bel) Ipso 0.07 9. Casper van der Meer (Ned) Elite 10. Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 11. Peter Wuyts (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 12. Jean-Pierre Heynderickx (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 13. Scott Guyton (NZ) Ipso 0.52 14. Patrick Stijlemans (Bel) Elite 15. Koen Beeckman (Bel) Ipso 16. Bart Everaert (Bel) Elite 17. Richard De Ridder (Bel) Elite 18. Michel Willems (Bel) Elite 19. Michel Cornelisse (Ned) Spar-RDM 20. Oleg Pankov (Ukr) Ipso 21. Paul Wilkens (GB) Elite 22. Joran Keppens (Bel) Elite 23. Rik Claeys (Bel) Spar-RDM 24. Mario Willems (Bel) Elite 25. Pavel Khamidouline (Rus) Lada 2.29 26. James Cambridge (GB) Elite 27. Frank De Jonge (Bel) Elite 28. Johan Buelens (Bel) Elite 29. David Plas (Bel) Elite 30. Michael Naessens (Bel) Elite Started: 59 |