GP Selle Italia, Silvelle, Super Prestige Trophy, Round 5Italy, December 8, 1998 |
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The 1998-99 Super Prestige CupRound 1, Ruddervoorde, Belgium, October 24, 1998 Round 2, Asper, Belgium, November 15, 1998 Round 3, St. Michielsgestel, Netherlands, November 22, 1998 Round 4, Gieten, Netherlands, November 29, 1998 Round 5, Silvelle, Italy, December 8, 1998 Round 6, Overijse, Belgium, December 13, 1998 Round 7, Hoogstraten, Belgium, December 23, 1998 Round 8, Diegem, Belgium, December 27, 1998 Round 9, Surhuisterveen, Netherlands, December 30, 1998 Round 10, Wetzikon, Switzerland, January 24, 1998 Round 11, Harnes, France, February, 7, 1998 Background Interview and NewsYesterday morning at 6 am Ben Berden sat in his car on the way to the airport. Bart Wellens was waiting for him at the check-in and they were going to travel together to the Superprestige race today in Silvelle, Italy. They were both aiming to have good races. They are both behind the pace though with compatriat Sven Nijs dominating the rankings followed by Richard Groenendaal, Mario De Clercq, Daniele Pontoni and Marc Janssens. Wellens has been unlucky on two occasions this season with a bad leg after some tough training sessions in Benidorm. Meanwhile Berden is flowering. He won twice over the weekend just gone. He won the Limburg Championship in Tongerlo and then he beat Paul Herijgers at Eernegem on Sunday.Berden was 5th in Silvelle last year. His critics have said that he has taken life too easily. But since his signed a professional contract with Palmans he has been doing a lot more. He said: "I have raced hard on the road last season and am stronger and will reap the benefits of that work." 23-year old Berden knows he must now push his racing career forward. "Perhaps it has taken me a little time to adjust back to the cross racing from the road work. It took some time to get some feeling back into my legs. But I will go back to the road at the end of the cross season. I will ride Gent-Gent and perhaps the Tour of the Mediterranean." He commented on the circuit at Silvelle. He said: "Because we are in Italy we find a flat technical race with high speeds. That is okay for me because I can now ride up to 95 per cent of my capacity. I have good legs. For the remaining 5 per cent I must work harder over the next year. I know I can improve. Whereas Sven Nijs can now ride his bike hard for an hour, I can go into the red for 30 minutes but I am improving in that regard." Berden's favourite for Silvelle is Daniele Pontoni, the diminutive Italian who won the World Cup round in Leudelange and who will be even stronger in front of his own public. He summarised the chances: "Sven Nijs and Bart Wellens have good legs after riding in the hills around Benidorm. They are hoping to reap the harvest of that work. De Clercq, Janssens, Vervecken are going well too. But the circuit in Rome is suitable for Pontonu. He is the one crosser who has the fast MTB skills. We ride more in the hills and are not trained to go as fast." Top 10 1997: 1. Daniele Pontoni 2. Richard Groenendaal 3. Adri van der Poel 4. Sven Nijs 5. Ben Berden 6. Wim De Vos 7. Mario De Clercq 8. Radomir Simunek 9. Erwin Vervecken 10. Peter Van Santvliet Race ReportBelgian Sven Nijs has shown his absolute dominance of the cyclocross season to date by winning the 5th round of the Superprestige Trophy at Silvelle in Italy from the local favourite and in-form rider Daniele Pontoni.Nijs, who is a two-time World Champion in the Under-23 classification, was too strong for Pontoni, who himself signalled a welcome return to form by winning the GP de Luxembourg, Round 3 of the World Cup in cross. Nijs has now won 4 of the 5 races contested this season in the Superprestige Trophy. He said at the end that today's win over Pontoni was sweet revenge for last Sunday's World Cup loss to the Italian. The veteran Dutch rider Adri van der Poel, a Rabobank teammate of Nijs was third after losing contact with Nijs and Pontoni in the closing stages of the race. The other Rabobank rider, Dutchman Richard Groenendaal was 13th and is now looking like he will not dominate the rankings as he has done in the last two seasons. Groenendaal has been usurped by the new boy in town and technical wizard - Sven Nijs. Nijs now has a clear gap at the top of the Trophy rankings. He is 22 and 24 points clear of his Belgian compatriats Mario De Clercq and Bart Wellens, respectively. The two Dutch riders who between them have carved up the Cross Rankings in the elite division for several seasons - Adri van der Poel and Richard Groenendaal are equal 4th and 27 points adrift. It is difficult to see them figuring in the Trophy this season with Nijs in such great form. Round 4, SilvelleTime Points 1. Sven Nijs (Bel) 58.52 15 2. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 0.08 14 3. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 0.17 13 4. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0.35 12 5. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 0.42 11 6. Mario De Clercq (Bel) 1.07 10 7. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1.24 9 8. Ben Berden (Bel) 1.25 8 9. Luca Bramati (Ita) 1.58 7 10. David Bertoni (Ita) 2.31 6 11. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 2.42 5 12. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 3.15 4 13. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 3.36 3 14. Robert Glajza (Svk) 3.50 2 15. Igor Tavella (Ita) 4.05 1 Super Prestige Trophy Standings after Round 5:
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Total
1. Sven Nijs (Bel) 15 14 15 15 15 74
2. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 13 15 14 0 10 52
3. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0 13 12 13 12 50
4. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 12 10 1 11 13 47
5. Richard Groenendaal (Bel) 14 12 4 14 3 47
6. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 11 7 8 4 9 39
7. Ben Berden (Bel) 5 9 7 8 8 37
8. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 0 5 9 7 11 32
9. Marc Janssens (Bel) 9 8 3 12 0 32
10. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 8 0 0 5 14 27
11. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 7 11 0 9 0 27
12. Wim de Vos (Ned) 0 0 13 10 0 23
13. Peter Willemsens (Bel) 10 0 10 0 0 20
14. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 3 1 2 2 5 13
15. Gretinus Gommers (Ned) 0 0 11 1 0 12
16. Andy Daelmans (Bel) 0 0 5 6 0 11
17. Tom van Noppen (Bel) 0 3 6 0 0 9
18. Luca Bramati (Ita) 0 0 0 0 7 7
19. David Bertoni (Ita) 0 0 0 0 6 6
20. Danny de Bie (Bel) 0 6 0 0 0 6
21. Peter van den Abeele (Bel) 2 4 0 0 0 6
22. Paul Herijgers (Bel) 6 0 0 0 0 6
23. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 0 0 0 0 4 4
24. David Willemsens (Bel) 4 0 0 0 0 4
25. Gerben De Kneght (Ned) 0 0 0 3 0 3
26. Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) 1 2 0 0 0 3
27. Robert Glajza (Svk) 0 0 0 0 2 2
28. Igor Tavella (Ita) 0 0 0 0 1 1
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