GP de France
|
Preview
Report
Results
Standings
The World Cup 1999-99 RacesRound 1, GP de Suisse - Eschenbach, Switzerland, November 8, 1998 Round 2, GP de Czech Republic - Tabor, Czech Republic, November 21, 1998 Round 3, GP de Luxembourg - Leudelange, Luxembourg, December 6, 1998 Round 4, GP de Belgique - Koksijde, Belgium, December 20, 1998 Round 5, GP de Netherlands - Zeddam, Netherlands, January 3, 1999 Round 6, GP de France - Nommay, France, January 17, 1999 Interview with Peter Van SantvlietThis preview is based on an interview by Noël Truyers, Belgian cycling journalist with Peter Van Santvliet.Mario De Clercq will be battling it out for the World Cup against Sven Nijs and Italian Daniele Pontoni. Meanwhile, another Belgian, Peter Van Santvliet, who is the 5th ranking Belgian on the World Cup standings, must race in Belgium on Saturday to hold on to his lead in the Belgian competition. While most of his colleagues will travel down to France on Saturday, Peter Van Santvliet will be racing the Cat 2 race at Vossem and then travel in his mobilhome afterwards to France. Van Santvliet said: "My father will drive and I will be resting or sleeping. If that is not successful, I will take a sleeping tablet, for I want to be fit to race. Erwin Vervecken says that the car is not fast enough and that I lose too much time. But I don't have to search for a hotel and we just park in the neighbourhood of the race circuit." Van Santvliet is a happy-go-lucky chap, except perhaps when he thinks of the Belgian Cyclocross championships last weekend. He was 6th but had hoped for something better. He said: "I wanted a place in the top 3 but I had a bad start. Perhaps because in the previous week I had to neglect my speed training. My father had problems with his back and couldn't ride the derny. In the race, I was blocked for the first minute then I chased the Janssen's group for the whole race." Peter Van Santvliet is now 28 year of age. He is still single. He joked: "Maybe I will get a photograph made of myself and put it up on a large board. Then she may ring! But I have a good home. I can earn my own living. As well as anyone who works in industry. I hope to stay racing cyclocross for another 5 years yet. I want to go higher up the rankings but that isn't so easy. Next year Bart Wellens will be riding the World Cup and that will make it harder. But I will continue to ride and seek sponsors. It is fantastic what Wellens can do with his frail legs. I am always surprised by his constitution and the way he can exert himself. And he is only 20..." "I am no supertalent like Nijs or Wellens. I think of myself like a big diamond but not one that is without faults. There are defects. Apart from missing starts, my greatest problem is that I make handling mistakes, at least one per lap. The best riders in the world naturally punish those errors." "I was 19 when I started to cross. That was late. I didn't lead the Roland Liboton trophy until I was 24. By then I had to live with my errors." If he wins on Sunday, he will dye his hair orange and green. "In the colours of my sponsor. In Nonmay, he thinks the Belgians will dominate unless Frischknecht continues his recent form. He said: "Last year Nijs, De Clercq and co were always a minute behind Groenendaal and Van Der Poel, but now they are a minute faster. I always try my best. I train very hard but I am making no progress. Previously I could count on getting in the top 10, now it has gone out to the top 20. Perhaps it is because I had some bad luck last May. My fork snapped and I was written off. My eye-socket was broken, my jaw was broken in pieces, and I had injured neck vertebrae. Perhaps I am trying to come back to fast. Van Santvliet has a lot of talent. He is usually in the top 10 but he seems to miss the final break. His problem is that he races like a diesel. He says: "I am like a cat. I have 7 lives and I think I can ride the whole race in the red. But that extra bit of heart capacity is the difference between winning and losing. I race to my limit and I cannot get anymore out of myself. In Nommay I will aim for the top 10. It is a parcours that I like a lot: marshy, lots of grass and lots of hills..." Young Belgians will not go to France Eric De Vlaeminck has indicated that the two Belgian Under-23 professionals, Bart Wellens and Tom Vannoppen will not ride in Sunday's World Cup finale in the French village of Nommay. They are being rested to prepare for the World Championships in the Poprad, Slovakia. De Vlaeminck said: "Bart Wellens has seen a doctor this week for a persistent back problem. He has been advised to rest for a full week for precautionary reasons. Bart will thus not ride at Vossem on Saturday nor go to France for the World Cup round at Nommay. While disappointing, it is much better that he follows the advice of his doctor at this stage." Eric De Vlaeminck, the national coach, also is resting Tom Vannoppen, who was second and the youngest rider in the Belgian championships at Soumagne. "That is for another reason. Tom needs 7 more points in the local cross classification. He has to make sure he wins because there is 30,000 franks at stake. He recently crashed his car and he needs to replace it." Eric De Vlaeminck will himself be replaced by his assistant Rudy De Bie in France. The juniors will also not go to France. They have to ride a tough race on Saturday at Vossem. And we want them fresh for the World Championships. Race ReportThe talk before the race was the suspension of Belgian rider Marc Janssens who was subjected to a blood test by the UCI before the race. The test revealed that his hematocriet level (number of red blood cells as a percentage of total cells) was above 50 per cent. The 50 per cent level is the limit speficied by the UCI after which a rider is suspended for two weeks.While not definitive, the test is an indication that EPO could have been used to artificially increase the red blood cell count. For Marc Janssens, the suspension may be disastrous. The World Championship at Poprad is to be held on January 31 which is within the two week period. Janssens denied that he had used EPO and is the first cyclocross rider to fail the EPO-test conducted by the UCI. World champion Belgian Mario De Clercq won the 1998-99 World Cup standings after taking third place in the final round in the northern French twon of Nonmay. The sixth round was won by veteran Dutchman Adri Van der Poel, who at 39 years of age, is coming into form just in time for the World Championships in a fortnight. Nommay is in the extreme east of France in the district "du Pays de Montbéliard" of the Lorraine region. It is an industrial area which Peugot having a large factory in the area. For a location map The race began in overcast conditions but no threat of rain. The temperature was relatively mild (10-11 Celsius) with a 20 km wind from the south adding a chill. De Clercq controlled the race in consummate fashion. Initially, early season sensation Belgian Sven Nijs and Italian Daniele Pontoni attacked but De Clercq was able to keep contact. Then Pontoni, Adri Van der Poel, and last round winner, Thomas Frischknecht pushed hard over the barriers and opened a small gap. But the world champion De Clercq followed attentively. In the finale, it was Van der Poel who was the aggressor. The Dutchman attacked hard in the closing laps and opened a gap on his breakaway partners. Thomas Frischknecht counter-attacked but was unable to run down Van der Poel. Just before the end, Under-23 World Champion Sven Nijs lost contact with Frischknecht. Just as they were coming in to the final straight for the sprint, Italian Daniele Pontoni and Mario De Clercq sprinted by Frischknecht and Nijs to take the podium places. Nijs and Czech rider Radomir Simunek were a further 3 seconds back. Frischknecht showed some annoyance at not anticipating this final move. But he was happy with his late season form and is now keen to win the World Championship. The other Swiss rider on the World Cup rankings, who had came third the day before at Vossem (Belgium) had back troubles and failed to figure in the race. 28 riders were classified. Round 6, Nommay:1. Adri Van der Poel (Ned) 57.42 2. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 0.02 3. Mario De Clercq (Bel) 0.02 4. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) 0.02 5. Sven Nijs (Bel) 0.05 6. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 0.05 7. Erwin Vevecken (Bel) 1.22 8. Luca Bramati (Ita) 1.22 9. Petr Dlask (Cze) 1.30 10. Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 1.30 11. Wim de Vos (Ned) 1.30 12. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 1.30 13. Dieter Runkel (Swi) 2.07 14. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 2.07 15. Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 2.07 16. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) 2.07 17. Roland Schätti (Swi) 2.58 18. Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 19. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 20. Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 21. Beat Wabel (Swi) 4.29 22. Pascal Perrin (Fra) 23. Jörg Arenz (Ger) 24. Igor Tavella (Ita) 25. Christophe Morel (Fra) 26. Sébastien Loigerot (Fra) 27. Massimo Sargenti (Ita) 28. Jan Ramsauer (Swi) 6.32 29. Tobias Nestle (Ger) 30. Davide Bertoni (Ita) 31. Pavel Prosek (Cze) 32. Zbigniew Adamus (Pol) Classified: 32 Final World Cup Standings 1998-99:
Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Rnd 6 Total
1. Mario De Clercq (Bel) 26 30 30 50 40 30 206
2. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 20 40 50 26 13 40 189
3. Sven Nijs (Bel) 40 50 26 22 17 22 177
4. Adrie Van der Poel (Ned) 17 12 22 30 20 50 151
5. Marc Janssens (Bel) 22 26 40 20 30 0 138
6. Richard Groenendal (Ned) 50 19 17 19 15 12 132
7. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 16 15 19 17 19 20 106
8. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 14 18 20 18 14 19 103
9. Wim De Vos (Ned) 13 11 18 14 22 15 93
10. Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 18 13 16 16 11 16 90
11. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) 0 0 0 12 50 26 88
12. Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 19 20 12 10 12 11 84
13. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 8 10 13 13 18 14 76
14. Petr Dlask (Cze) 11 22 15 0 9 17 74
15. Beat Wabel (Swi) 30 0 14 0 26 0 70
16. Roland Schätti (Swi) 15 6 10 6 8 9 54
17. Luca Bramati (Ita) 9 17 0 0 0 18 44
18. Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 0 0 11 8 16 8 43
19. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0 0 0 40 0 0 40
20. Pavel Prosek (Cze) 10 16 0 0 0 0 26
21. Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 0 7 9 0 6 0 22
22. Dieter Runkel (Swi) 0 8 0 0 0 13 21
23. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 12 0 0 0 0 7 19
24. Ben Berden (Bel) 0 0 0 15 0 0 15
25. Zdenek Mlynar (Cze) 0 14 0 0 0 0 14
26. Christophe Morel (Fra) 6 0 7 0 0 0 13
27. Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) 0 0 0 11 0 0 11
28. Bram Schmitz (Ned) 0 0 0 0 10 0 10
29. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) 0 0 0 0 0 10 10
30. Paul Herijgers (Bel) 0 0 0 9 0 0 9
31. Beat Blum (Swi) 0 9 0 0 0 0 9
32. Dominique Arnould (Fra) 0 0 8 0 0 0 8
33. Camiel van den Bergh (Ned) 0 0 0 0 7 0 7
34. Peter Willemssens (Bel) 0 0 0 7 0 0 7
35. David Pagnier (Fra) 7 0 0 0 0 0 7
36. Tadeusz Korzeniewski (Pol) 0 0 0 0 0 6 6
37. Patrick Blum (Swi) 0 0 6 0 0 0 6
|
