Brief:Hans De Meester pulled out a very strong finish to win the GP Kortemarke. The Tonissteiner rider went with 2 kms to the finish, attacking from a top group of 10 riders. Elite without contract rider Ronny De Meuter won the sprint for second (10 seconds after De Meester) from Johan Verstrepen and the rest of the chasing group. The race started in strong winds and rain and by half way 19 riders had abandoned. With around 50 kms to go Hans De Clercq attacked and built a gap of 50 seconds. Mario Raes, a 20-year old Espoir from the team of Michel Pollentier, bridged the gap on his own. The two riders stayed clear until the last lap. In the final kms, the peloton split into two groups.De Meester said afterwards: "Franky De Buyst brought the group back to the two leaders. I thought that the peloton would come back together. With 2 kms to go, I felt good and took my chance to attack." Thanks to the good teamwork from his fellow Tonnissteiner riders De Meester won the race and has signed with the team again next year. This was his 6th win for the season. "I have been speaking to my manager Bulens about the future program. I want to start again in Paris-Brussel. 3 years ago I discovered how hard it is. But this year I think I can do well." Kortemark, 156 kms:1. Hans De Meester (Bel) Tonissteiner 3.42.00 2. Ronny De Meuter (Bel) Elite 0.10 3. Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 4. Gianni Rivera (Bel) Elite 5. Pavel Khamidoulin (Rus) Elite 6. Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 7. Mario Raes (Bel) Elite 8. Stefaan Vermeersch (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 9. Hans De Clercq (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 0.32 10. Bart Heirewegh (Bel) Elite 0.55 11. Franky De Buyst (Bel) Tonissteiner 12. Kristof Trouve (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 13. Frank Corvers (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 1.10 14. Geert Omloop (Bel) Spar-RDM 15. Didier Deceuninck (Bel) Elite 16. Christ Hendryckx (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 17. Michel Vanhaecke (Bel) Ipso 1.55 18. Johan De Geyter (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 2.40 19. Jurgen Vermeersch (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 20. Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 9.10 21. Brian Dalgaard-Jensen (Den) Spar-RDM 22. Chris Pollin (Bel) Elite 23. Filip Deschuytter (Bel) Elite 24. Jurgen Deceuninck (Bel) Elite 25. Jurgen Landrie (Bel) Elite 26. Peter Peys (Bel) Elite 27. Koen Deschuytter (Bel) Elite 28. Peter Spaenhoven (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 29. Bart Everaert (Bel) Ipso 30. Jan Hordijk (Ned) Tonissteiner 12.40 Started: 85 |