Eurode Omloop - 1.5

Kerkrade, Netherlands, August 12, 2001

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First victory for Corey Sweet

By Bert Saarloos*

The tenth edition of the Eurode Omloop ended in a big party for Australian Corey Sweet. The 24 year old from Adelaide was undoubtedly the strongest rider of the field and marked his first victory of the season. The BankGiroLoterij rider shook off his two last rivals, Edwin Dunning (Axa) and Rabobank amateur Laurens ten Dam, on the last GPM.

Eurode is the name of the twin cities of Kerkrade, Netherlands ('council of the church') and Herzogenrath, Germany ('council of the dukes'). The Omloop (circuit) of 14.2 kms starts in Kerkrade, a former coal mining town of 50,000 inhabitants, most known for its successful soccer club Roda JC. Then the field leads through Herzogenrath, an equally large mining town, where each lap (after 4.9 kms) points could be gathered for the sprint classification. The last leg of the course takes the riders back to Dutch territory, with the GPM of the Haanraderberg (Hill of Haanrade), with the top after 8.5 kms. It is a 800 metre long climb with an average grade of 7%. Then a couple of kilometres on rolling and very winding terrain, a descent, before the last climb (no GPM however) appears, the Hambosberg (Hill of the Ham Forest), 500 meters long, also 7 % and the top at exactly 1 km from the finish line.

The decisive break was already being made on the first lap. Corey Sweet (Aus, BankGiroLoterij), Seth Pelusi (USA, Flanders), Kristof Trouvé (Bel, Collstrop), Edwin Dunning (Ned, Axa) and the Dutch amateurs Laurens ten Dam (Rabobank) and Joost Posthuma (Löwik) took off. Due to a back injury Posthuma was dropped quite early and just before halfway, Trouvé could not follow the pace anymore.

Behind them a group of 17 formed: Remco van der Ven, Stefan van Dijk, Rudi Kemna (BankGiroLoterij), Thierry De Grootte, Kristof Trouvé (Collstrop), Bert Dewaele, American Jeff Louder, New Zealander Gordon McCauley (Landbouwkrediet), Marcel Luppes (Axa), David Debremaeker (Ville de Charleroi) and the amateurs Arno Wallaard (Löwik), Bram de Waard (Bert Story-Piels), Bas Giling (Rabobank), Ruud Aarts and Aussie Sean Sullivan (Cycling 2000) and the locals Stefan Cohnen (Bergklimmers) and Bjorn Hoeben (Maaslandster).

The four leaders had a constant gap of about 2'30 minutes. BankGiroLoterij, with three excellent sprinters - particularly Kemna - had the chasing group in a stranglehold. A second group of 20 riders, with Australian amateurs Craig Williams, living in a small Dutch town 20 kms from Kerkrade and riding for the German König-Pilsener/Zugvogel Aachen team, and Tour Down Under stage winner Luke Roberts (Cycling 2000) was 4 minutes behind and lost more ground every lap.

In front it was clear that Sweet was the best man. Most of the time he led the break over the hills and consequently he won the King of the Mountains classification as well. Sweet's pace on the seventh ascent of the Haanraderberg meant the end of Pelusi's chances. The American had to let go and was captured by the chasing group, splintered by then. Laurens ten Dam didn't do any work either.

"That was OK," said Sweet, "He couldn't do any better. He was glad to be around."

The young (21 y/o) Dutchman confirmed: "This was my first big race since the I crashed through a shield of car during training in April. I was delighted just to be in this break. I was satisfied finishing third, I couldn't to any better. I was merely being tolerated by Sweet and Dunning."

With 7 kms to go, on the last climb of the Haanraderberg, Sweet attacked. "I can sprint well, but I didn't know what the sprinting capabilities of Dunning were. So I decided to make the move," Sweet explained.

"You didn't have to be afraid of Dunning in the sprint", said teammate Rudi Kemna after the finish. "He is not so fast."

The attack was very strong. Ten Dam: "I have never seen anyone take a 100 metre gap so quickly."

In the final kilometres, Sweet established a difference of nearly a minute, to take his first victory of the season. "It's about time", he laughed.

The European season is nearly over for Adelaide based Corey Sweet. "I won't be riding the World Championships. Next month I'm returning Australia and ride some races there, including the Sun Tour, before taking a holiday."

*Bert Saarloos is a correspondent with Dagblad de Limburger

Results - 174.4 km

1 Corey Sweet (Aus) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus       4.14.21 (40.197 km/h)
2 Edwin Dunning (Ned) Axa-VZV                        0.52
3 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank                     0.53
4 Rudi Kemna (Ned) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus           2.03
5 Jeff Louder (USA) Landbouwkrediet                
6 Thierry De Grootte (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans         2.06
7 Remco van der Ven (Ned) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus    2.31
8 David Debremaeker (Bel) Ville de Charleroi
9 Bert Dewaele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet                 2.32
10 Marcel Luppes (Ned) Axa-VZV                       2.33
11 Stefan van Dijk (Ned) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus     2.43
12 Bas Giling (Ned) Rabobank                         2.49
13 Ruud Aarts (Ned) Cycling 2000                     2.50
14 Bram de Waard (Ned) Bert Story-Piels              2.55
15 Seth Pelusi (USA) Flanders-Prefetex               4.57
16 Geert Omloop (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans              7.14
17 Bjorn Hoeben (Ned) TWC Maaslandster
18 Arno Wallaard (Ned) Löwik-Tegeltoko               7.25
19 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
20 Frank van Dulmen (Ned) Löwik-Tegeltoko            7.30
21 Luke Roberts (Aus) Cycling 2000
22 Kenny van Hummel (Ned) Modderkolk-Groenewoud      7.59
23 Sean Sullivan (Aus) Cycling 2000                  8.10
24 Luuc Hutten (Ned) Rabobank                        9.38
25 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) HSK Trias                  21.04
26 Stefan Cohnen (Ned) Wielerclub De Bergklimmers
27 Gunther Cuylits (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
28 Frank Ackermans (Ned) König-Pilsener/Zugvogel
29 Henne van Zanten (Ned) Apac/Eemland
30 Matthijs Loohuis (Ned) Löwik-Tegeltoko
31 Bas Robroek (Ned) König-Pilsener/Zugvogel
32 Arne Kornegoor (Ned) Löwik-Tegeltoko
33 Patrick Koeman (Ned) Cycling 2000
34 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Flanders-Prefetex
35 Domenik Raza (Ger) Flanders-Prefetex
36 Vincent van Rijn (Ned) Modderkolk/Groenewoud
37 Marcus Ganser (Ger) Athleticum/Principia
38 Daniel Meinke (Ger) Comnet Cycling Team
39 Johan van de Berg (SAf) Landbouwkrediet
40 Dave Macpartlane (Aus) Cycling 2000
41 Rik Reinerink (Ned) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus

Sprint classification

1 Edwin Dunning (Ned) Axa-VVZ                 44 pts
2 Corey Sweet (Aus) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus   27
3 Seth Pelusi (USA) Flanders -Prefetex        12
4 Jeff Louder (USA) Landbouwkrediet           1
 
GPM classification

1 Corey Sweet (Aus) BankGiroLoterij-Batavus   41 pts
2 Edwin Dunning (Ned) Axa-VVZ                 34
3 Seth Pelusi (USA) Flanders -Prefetex        11
4 Luke Roberts (Aus) Cycling 2000              5
 
Team classification

1 BankGiroLoterij-Batavus               12.47.37
2 Rabobank                                  6.33
3 Cycling 2000                             13.56

Results courtesy of Bert Saarloos (Dagblad De Limburger) and cycling4all.com 

Start list

Axa-VZV TT3 (Ned)                    ASC Olympia Amsterdam (Ned)
1 Peter Schep                        7 Steven Molle
2 Daniel van Elven                   8 Patrick van Hunksloot
3 Edwin Dunning                      9 Roy Snijders
4 Bjorn Cornelissen                  10 Jacco Helmink
5 Marcel Luppes                      11 Maarten Soeters
6 Renger Ypenburg                    12 Heike van de Woerd
 
WC De Bergklimmers (Ned)             BankGiroLoterij-Batavus TT2 (Ned)
13 Nils Heinis                       19 Corey Sweet (Aus)
14 Marc Habets                       20 Jan van Velzen
15 Stefan Cohnen                     21 Remco van der Ven
16 Quintin Schots                    22 Stefan van Dijk
17 Leander Laurijssens               23 Rik Reinerink
18 Ivo Vincken                       24 Rudi Kemna
 
Comnet Cycling Team TT3 (Ger)        Apac - Eemland (Ned)
25 Boris Müller                      31 Arjan Hendriks
26 Guido Scheeren                    32 Henne van Zanten
27 Daniel Meinke                     33 Micha de Vries
28 Harold Sodi                       34 Rob Ypenburg
29 -                                 35 Ronald Schulling
30 Jan Richter                       36 Jeffrey Leest
 
Löwik-Tegeltoko elite 2 (Ned)        Collstrop-Palmans TT2 (Bel)
37 Marco Bos                         43 Thierry De Grootte
38 Frank van Dulmen                  44 Hans De Meester
39 Mathijs Loohuis                   45 Kristof Trouvé
40 Joost Posthuma                    46 -
41 Arne Kornegoor                    47 Geert Omloop
42 Arno Wallaard                     48 Bert Scheirlinckx
 
Landbouwkrediet TT2 (Bel)            TWC Maaslandster (Ned)
49 Bert Dewaele                      55 Ward Schiffelers
50 Andrei Tcherviakov (Rus)          56 Iwan Linckens
51 Gunther Cuylits                   57 Chris Jansen
52 Jeff Louder (USA)                 58 Jelmer Pietersma
53 Johan van de Berg (SAf)           59 Bjorn Hoeben
54 Gordon McCauley (NZl)             60 Olaf Heynen
 
't Luchtschip (Ned)                  Bert Story-Piels elite 2 (Ned)
61 Damie van Vianen                  67 Angelo van Melis (former pro)
62 Gerard van Hezik                  68 Bas Goossens
63 Anton van Grinsven                69 Bram de Waard
64 Harm van de Meulen                70 Michel Cerneus (former pro)
65 -                                 71 Tom Hoedemakers (former pro)
66 Maarten van Kooy                  72 Jelle Mul
 
Rabobank elite 2 (Ned)               Flanders -Prefetex TT2 (Bel)
73 Laurens ten Dam                   79 Seth Pelusi (USA)
74 Theo Eltink                       80 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned)
75 Bas Giling                        81 Domenik Raza (Ger)
76 Luuc Hutten                       82 Christoph Roodhooft
77 Pieter Weening                    83 Bryce Shapley (NZl)
78 -                                 84 Marco Weisshaupt (Ger)
 
Modderkolk/Groenewoud elite 2 (Ned)  HSK Trias (Ned)
85 Kenny van Humme;                  91 Youri Dijkshoorn
86 Aldo Klomp                        92 Marco Berg
87 Roy Curvers                       93 Wouter de Kok
88 Raymond Raadgever                 94 Eelco Siebering
89 Vincent van Rijn                  95 Mattijs Wassenburg
90 Jacco van der Stelt               96 Thijs Zonneveld
 
Athleticum Principia TT3 (Ger)       Ville de Charleroi TT2 (Bel)
97 Marcus Ganser                     103 Grégory Barbier (Fra)
98 Michale Teichert                  104 David Debremaeker
99 Karsten Vogel                     105 Frank Corvers
100 Wolfram Wiese                    106 Jurgen Landrie
101 Martin Neffgen                   107 Bart Heirewegh
102 Jörgen Juretzeck                 108 Nico Indekeu
 
König-Pilsener/Zugvogel Aachen (Ger) Cycling 2000 elite 2 (Ned)
109 Frank Ackermans (Ned)            115 Ruud Aarts
110 Craig Williams (Aus)             116 Patrick Koeman
111 Danny Sijen (Ned)                117 Dave Mcpartlane (Aus)
112 Bas Robroek (Ned)                118 Marvin van der Pluim
113 Berrie Thoolen (Ned)             119 Luke Roberts (Aus)
114 Erik Willems (Ned)               120 Sean Sullivan (Aus)

Past winners

1995
 
1 Danny Nelissen (Ned) Elite/Amateur            156 kms in 3.57.38
2 Aart Vierhouten (Ned)  
3 Wilco Zuyderwijk (Ned)
 
1996
  
1 Marcel Van der Vliet (Ned) Elite/Amateur      180 kms in 4.27.16
2 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) 
3 Danny Stam (Ned)  
 
1997
 
1 Patrick Köhler (Ger) Team Nürnberger          180 kms in 4.11.16
2 Godert De Leeuw (Ned) Foreldoradao Golff
3 Mikael Kyneb (Den) PSV Cologne                              0.02
 
1998
 
1 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002
2 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002
3 John van den Akker (Ned) Elite
 
1999
 
1 Kris Gerits (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002		       180 kms in 4.16.18
2 Bekim Christensen (Den) EC Bayer			                 0.45
3 Stefan van Dijk (Ned) Rabobank
 
2000
 
1 Berry Hoedemakers (Ned) Spar-Oki             170 kms in 4.16.29 (39.77 km/h)
2 Rudi Kemna (Ned) Bankgiroloterij-Batavus                   0.10
3 Roger Hammond (GBr) Collstrop                              0.12

Past Winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin