Cyclocross Prague - Cat. 1Prague, Czech Republic, October 28, 2000
Vervecken triumphs in PragueA mild autumn day greeted the field of over forty riders here in Prague . The event was televised live on Czech television CT1 and after ice hockey this is one of the most popular winter sports here in the Czech Republic.Given the central location, free entry plus good weather a large crowd was in attendance. The sentimental favourite as always was four times World Champion Radomir Simunek whose advancing years were highlighted by the fact that his 18 year old son had just finished second in the supporting junior event. In addition to Simunek a whole host of pretenders to his crown were waiting in the wings such as Ausbuher, Mudroch and Hekele. A fast uphill start on the tarmac and onto 330 metres of a running track soon spread the field out with Czech mountain biker Vaclav Jezek (Author) leading from Mudroch (ETA) , Prosek (Budvar) and Ausbuher (Budvar), while Simunek (Ben Car-Skoda) was momentarily in the top 10. The Belgian and Dutch visitors were a little further back but Vervecken (RVS-Liege) was moving up . The first lap was completed in 5.22 and was led through by Mudroch (ETA) with Vervecken back in 5th place only 4 seconds back. The second lap saw Ausbuher (Budvar) and Vervecken (RVS-Liege) start their race long break which stretched out to more than 30 seconds from a chasing group of around 10 riders including World Champion Groenenedaal (Rabobank), Van Santvliet (Spaar) and a host of Czech riders. With four laps remaining Van Santvliet had broken away and was chasing the pair hard at 23 seconds with Jezek leading the bunch at 33 seconds. With three laps remaining Vervecken had broken away on his own and Ausbuher was trailing by 8 seconds with Van Santvliet at 32 seconds and Wim de Vos (Spaar) leading a group of five at 47 seconds. Over the final two laps the gaps remained basically the same and Vervecken didn't falter over the technical circuit which included two sets of hurdles every lap plus a sand-pit. Onto the final tarmac climb to finish-line Vervecken had plenty of time to savour his victory as the remnants of the top twenty riders came in over the next five minutes in small splinter-groups. Simunek managed to scrape into the top twenty but as next year's World's organiser Cestmir Kalas commented: "It's early days yet and he is one rider who knows how to prepare for the big events." These riders will be back in the Czech Republic for the Cyclo Cross World Championships in February 2001 in the historic town of Tabor around 90 minutes south of Prague. Details are now online at http://www.cyklokros.cz/ Course: 2650 metres per lap; 900 metres asphalt, 1200 metres grass, 330 metres 'tartan' athletics track, 120 metres running and 53 metres elevation. Weather : Overcast, mild autumn day 13 C. Report and results courtesy of Steve Lack Results - 12 laps (31.8 km)1. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) RVS Liege 1.02.19 2. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) Budvar 0.10 3. Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Spaar Select 0.36 4. Wim De Vos (Ned) Spaar Select 0.44 5. Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 0.50 6. Ondrej Lukes (Cze) 1.00 7. Vaclav Metlicka (Cze) 1.11 8. Emil Hekele (Cze) 1.18 9. Pavel Prosek (Cze) 10. Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 1.39 11. Ric Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1.41 12. David Sussemilch (Cze) 1.58 13. Ales Mudroch (Cze) ETA 2.14 14. Radek Tichy (Cze) 2.39 15. Petr Novy (Cze) 2.41 16. Tomas Cabla (Cze) 3.11 17. David Kasek (Cze) 3.22 18. Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) 4.03 19. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 4.18 20. P. Medved (Svk) 4.46 Past winners1999 Mario de Clercq (Bel) |