22nd GP Eddy Merckx - 1.2Belgium, September 9, 20012000 Results Preview Start list Results Past winners Wauters/Dekker too good in the wetOn a gusty, stormy day in Brussels, Rabobank pair Marc Wauters (Bel) and Erik Dekker (Ned) has taken out the 22nd edition of the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx, held over a 40 kilometre circuit. Wauters was impressive, coming back from a broken collarbone in the Tour de France, and he put himself in the spotlight for selection in the Belgian national team for the World Championships in October. Dekker was excellent, as he is most of the time. The pair rode through the storms to finish in 49'33.52 (48.4 km/h), repeating their 1999 victory. Second place went to young time trial specialists, Fabian Cancellara (Swi) and Michael Rogers (Aus) who were riding for the Mapei team. They finished just 23 seconds behind Wauters/Dekker, beating a lot of top names in the process. Third place went to Swiss riders Jean Nuttli and Lukas Zumsteg (Phonak). The big surprise was the lack of a good performance from Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloeden (Telekom), who finished 8th at 1'34. Ullrich pulled out of a 2.4 class tour that he would almost certainly have won in order to compete today, but he had promised the organisers back in July that he would do so.
Results - 40 km1 Erik Dekker (Ned)/Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 49.33 (48.23 km/h) 2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)/Michael Rogers (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 0.23 3 Jean Nuttli (Swi)/Bert Grabsch (Ger) 0.32 4 Uwe Peschel (Ger)/Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.48 5 Jonathan Vaughters (USA)/Bobby Julich (USA) Credit Agricole 0.49 6 Bart Voskamp (Ned)/Remco Van Der Ven (Ned) Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 1.04 7 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den)/Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Fakta 1.23 8 Jan Ullrich (Ger)/Andrea Klöden (Ger) Telekom 1.34 9 Nico Mattan (Bel)/Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis 1.48 10 Jacky Durand (Fra)/ Brad McGee (Aus) Francaise des Jeux 1.49 11 Cyril Dessel (Fra)/Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.54 12 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel)/Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 2.04 13 Peter Van Petegem (Bel)/Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Mercury 2.09 14 Johan Museeuw (Bel)/Axel Merckx (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 2.12 15 Gilles Maignan (Fra)/Arturas Kasputis (Ltu) Ag2r-Prévoyance 2.30 16 Bert Roesems (Bel)/Michel Vanhaecke (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 2.38 17 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel)/Ief Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.43 18 Renaud Boxus (Bel)/Sébastien Matozza (Bel) Ville de Charleroi 2.50 19 Mario Aerts (Bel)/Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.51 20 Tony Bracke (Bel)/Marc Streel (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 2.53 21 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz)/Servais Knaven (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 3.09 22 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz)/Kevin Livingston (USA) Telekom 4.26 23 Björn Leukemans (Bel)/Jurgen Guns (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 4.36 PreviewThe Grand Prix Eddy Merckx has been held as a paired time trial since 1998. Despite the late scratching of Max van Heeswijk (Domo), who is sick, and Michael Sandstöd (CSC-Tiscali), who is injured, the field this year looks to be quite good. Top seeds are Andreas Klöden/Jan Ullrich (Telekom), who will depart as the last of the 24 teams. They are preceded by Marc Wauters/Erik Dekker (Rabobank), and Tristan Hoffman/Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali), with teams leaving at 2 minute intervals. The first team off are Belgians Renaud Boxus/Sébastien Mattozza (Ville de Charleroi) and they will leave at 15:00 CEST. Other important names on the start list include Ief and Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto), Jacky Durand/Bradley McGee (Francaise des Jeux), Chris Peers/Nico Mattan (Cofidis), Jonathan Vaughters/Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole), Peter Van Petegem/Leon van Bon (Mercury), and Uwe Peschel/Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner). The parcours is new this year, going via Wemmel, Merchtem, Londerzeel, Meise, Grimbergen and Brussels, starting and finishing at Koning Bodewijnstadion. Starting List15:00 Renaud Boxus/Sébastien Mattozza (Bel/Ville de Charleroi) Past winners2000 Lance Armstrong (USA)/Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal 1999 Marc Wauters (Bel) and Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1998 Abraham Olano (Spa) and Jose-Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Banesto 1997 Abraham Olano (Spa) 1996 Chris Boardman (GBr) 1995 Johan Museeuw (Bel) 1994 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1993 Chris Boardman (GBr) 1992 Jelle Nijdam (Ned) 1991 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1990 Frans Maassen (Ned) 1989 Sean Yates (GBr) 1988 Edwig Van Hooydonck (Bel) 1987 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1986 Charly Mottet (Fra) 1985 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1984 Claude Criquielion (Bel) 1983 Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (Bel) 1982 Daniel Willems (Bel) 1981 Knut Knudsen (Nor) 1980 Knut Knudsen (Nor) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin |