40th Brabantse Pijl - Cat. 1.2

Belgium, March 26, 2000

1999 results     Past winners

Museeuw sends out a warning

Just one week before the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and a day after the GP E3 in Harelbeke, Belgian idol Johan Museeuw has shown that he is a clear favourite for the Ronde by winning the 40th Brabantse Pijl today. The former world champion has already won Het Volk this year, and will be looking at making it four wins in the Ronde next weekend.

The race came to life after the second last climb, where 10 riders formed a leading group. Den Bakker, Mattan, Museeuw, Sorensen, Boogerd, Marzoli, Pauwels and Spruch were in it, with Michele Bartoli the only major name to be left behind. The bunch did not chase immediately, and the group made a 50 second gap fairly quickly. Bartoli and Skibby later made the front, but this was after the final attack had gone.

On the next climb, Cofidis' Nico Mattan attacked, taking Museeuw (Mapei) and Sorensen (Rabobank) with him. The trio worked evenly to consolidate their break, and were well headed towards victory. With 18 kilometres to travel, Nico Mattan tried a surprise move, but it was pointless when Museeuw countered with a powerful attack. That was the last they saw of him before the race finished.

Despite suffering a cold, Museeuw held off the rest to take yet another solo win, his 90th career victory. Mattan and Sorensen finished second and third, a minute and a half in front of the rest of the leaders who were led home by Marzoli of Cantina Tollo.

Results - 195 km

1. Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step              	      4.33.43 (42.675km/h)
2. Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis             			0.07
3. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank          			0.10
4. Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Regain         		1.38
5. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step            		1.43
6. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis
7. Jesper Skibby (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
8. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
9. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Alessio-Banca SMG)
10. Geert Verheyen (Bel) Lotto-Adecco  
11. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx
12. Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Alessio-Banca SMG
13. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
14. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank
15. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
16. Raymond Meijs (Ned) Cologne					4.52
17. Davy Daniels (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx
18. Vincent Cali (Fra) Ville de Charleroi-Newsystems
19. Jurgen Van Roosbroeck (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx
20. Karl Pauwels (Bel) Palmans-Ideal
21. Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Collstrop-De Federale Verzekeringen
22. Zbigniew Piatek (Pol) MAT-Ceresit CCC
23. Bart Voskamp (Ned) Polti					5.05
24. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step			5.16
25. Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx		5.43
26. Kurt Van Landeghem (Bel) Tönissteiner-Landbouwkrediet	8.25

Past Winners

1961    Pino Cerami (Bel)
1962    Marcel Janssens (Bel)
1963    Joseph Wouters (Bel)
1964    Arnaldo Pambianco (Ita)
1965    Willy Bocklant (Bel)
1966    Jan Janssen (Ned)
1967    Roger Rosiers (Bel)
1968    Victor Van Schil (Bel)
1969    Willy In'T'Ven (Bel)
1970    Herman Vanspringel (Bel) 
1971    Joseph Spruyt (Bel)
1972    Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1973    Johan De Muynck (Bel)
1974    Herman Vanspringel (Bel)
1975    Willem Peters (Bel) 
1976    Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1977    Frans Verbeeck (Bel)
1978    Marcel Laurens (Bel)
1979    Daniel Willems (Bel)
1980    Michel Pollentier (Bel)
1981    Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1982    Claude Criquielion (Bel)
1983    Eddy Planckaert (Bel)
1984    Ronny Van Holen (Bel)
1985    Adri Van der Poel (Ned)
1986    Johan Van de Velde (Ned)
1987    Edwig Van Hooydonck (Bel)
1988    Johan Capiot (Bel)
1989    Johan Capiot (Bel)
1990    Frans Maassen (Ned)
1991    Edwig Van Hooydonck (Bel)
1992    Johan Capiot (Bel)
1993    Edwig Van Hooydonck (Bel)
1994    Michele Bartoli (Ita)
1995    Edwig Van Hooydonck (Bel)
1996    Johan Museeuw (Bel)
1997    Gianluca Pianegonda (Ita)
1998    Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 193 kms in 4.15.50 (45.263 km/h)
1999    Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step	193 kms in 4.43.15 (40.882 km/h)

Mario Stiehl from Berlin keeps the past winners up to date