St. Michielsgestel, Super Prestige Trophy, Round 3Netherlands, November 22, 1998 |
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 ReportIn the 3rd round of the Super Prestige Trophy,which was raced in the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel, Belgian Sven Nijs showed that he is ready to assume the mantle of the best Cyclo Cross rider in Europe. He won the World Cup race in the Czech Republic easily on the Saturday, and once again showed his supremacy here.Unlike the day before, the parcours was frozen hard and this gave the riders some difficulties. The race started with the Rabobank trio - Nijs, Van Der Poel and Groenendaal (racing in his home town) - prominent at the front. By the second lap, a leading group had formed which included Nijs, Mario De Clercq, Ben Berden, and Wim de Vos. The Belgian supremacy was once again revealing itself with de Vos the lone Dutchman. In the chasing group were Bart Wellens, David Willemsens, Gretinus Gommers and the lone Czech Radomir Simunek. The frozen track saw many falls. Groenendaal who is having a terrible start to this year's competition, having already had mechanical troubles and a fall was one of the riders who came down. There was a definite air of caution among the riders because of the slippery track. Berden succumbed to mechanical troubles and dropped back. Nijs and a very fit looking De Clercq put down the hammer towards the end of the race and De Vos was dropped. With a lap to go, Nijs repeated the dose - this time on De Clercq and he raced to the finish alone with Mario De Clercq 5 seconds back. De Vos hung on for third. Round 3, St. Michielsgestel1. Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank 1.01.58 2. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 0.05 3. Wim de Vos (Ned) VKS 0.38 4. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0.47 5. Gretinus Gommers (Ned) 1.02 6. David Willemsens (Bel) 1.21 7. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 1.24 8. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1.24 9. Ben Berden (Bel) 1.24 10. Tom van Noppen (Bel) 1.24 11. Andy Daelmans (Bel) 1.24 12. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1.24 13. Marc Janssens (Bel) 1.47 14. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 1.47 15. Adri van der Poel (Ned) Rabobank 1.47 Super Prestige Trophy Standings after Round 3:
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
1. Sven Nijs (Bel) 15 14 15 44
2. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 13 15 14 42
3. Richard Groenendaal (Bel) 14 12 4 30
4. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 11 7 8 26
5. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0 13 12 25
6. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 12 10 1 23
7. Ben Berden (Bel) 5 9 7 21
8. Marc Janssens (Bel) 9 8 3 20
9. Peter Willemsens (Bel) 10 0 10 20
10. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 7 11 0 18
11. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 0 5 9 14
12. Wim de Vos (Ned) 0 0 13 13
13. Gretinus Gommers (Ned) 0 0 11 11
14. Tom van Noppen (Bel) 0 3 6 9
15. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 8 0 0 8
16. Danny de Bie (Bel) 0 6 0 6
17. Peter van den Abeele (Bel) 2 4 0 6
18. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 3 1 2 6
19. Paul Herijgers (Bel) 6 0 0 6
20. Andy Daelmans (Bel) 0 0 5 5
21. David Willemsens (Bel) 4 0 0 4
22. Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) 1 2 0 3
|