Race ReportDutchman Richard Groenendaal won the World Cup Cyclo Cross Race in Koksijde, Belgium on Sunday. He won for the first time in the sand dunes, ten years after his father Rein. He began carefull, but was aggressive in the second half of the race. Fellow Dutchman, Adri van der Poel was second. Belgian's Sven Nijs and Erwin Vervecken had a fast start but could not hold the form. Best Belgian was undoubtedly Marc Janssens in third place.This was Richard Groenendaal's 13th victory for the season and his 2nd in the current World Cup. The weather was dry and the track fast. This is the famous cross course which is highlighted by the many sand dunes which confront the riders. The Czech Republic riders were the first to attack but were closely followed by Groenendaal, Wim de Vos (Ned) and Belgian's, Erwin Vervecken, and Bart Wellens. This group was joined by Belgian Marc Janssens and evergreen Adri van der Poel after 2 laps. Groenendaal put the hammer down in the third lap and spread the top group with ease. By the 4th lap he had a gap of 20 seconds on the chasing group which now comprised van der Poel, Janssens, Vervecken, Czech Richard Simunek, Belgian Sven Nijs and Wellens. Adri van der Poel and Bart Wellens attempted to close the gap on Groenendaal but van der Poel blasted Wellens of his wheel. On lap 7, it was the turn of Janssens and Simunek to catch van der Poel, but again the move failed. Apart from the strength of Groenendaal, World Champion Italian, Daniele Pontoni was impressive coming into contention at the end (4th) after being victim of a very slow beginning. 1. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 2. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 3. Marc Janssens (Bel) 4. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 5. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 6. Richard Simunek (Cze) 7. Sven Nijs (Bel) 8. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 9. Wim de Vos (Ned) 10. Bart Wellens (Bel) 11. J. Chiotti (Fra) 12. Arne Daelmans (Bel) 13. Henrik Djernis (Den) 14. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 15. Ben Berden (Bel) 16. Dieter. Runkel (Swi) 17. J. Pospisil (Cze) 18. M. Martinez (Fra) 19. Erik Boezewinkel (Ned) 20. G. Gommers (Ned) 21. O.Lukes (Cze) 22. E.Magnien (Fra) 23. Danny de Bie (Bel) 24. R. Schätti (Swi) 25. Theo Steiger (Swi) 26. Christophe Morel (Fra) 27. B. Rondelez (Bel) 28. P. Dlask (Cze) 29. P. Triebel (Lux) 30. J. Arenz (Ger) 1 lap down: 31. P. Blum (Swi) 32. S. Blunt (GB) 33. B. Clarke (GB) 34. P. Stevenson (GB) World Cup Standings after Race 31. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 50 30 40 50 -- -- 170 1. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 40 40 22 40 -- -- 142 3. Dieter Runkel (Swi) 18 50 20 10 -- -- 98 4. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) -- 18 50 26 -- -- 94 5. Marc Janssens (Bel) 14 15 30 30 -- -- 89 6. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 15 26 19 22 -- -- 82 7. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 19 20 16 18 -- -- 73 8. Richard Simunek (Cze) 26 14 9 20 -- -- 69 9. J. Pospisil (Cze) 16 19 17 9 -- -- 61 9. Wim de Vos (Ned) 10 16 18 17 -- -- 61 11. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 20 22 -- 12 -- -- 54 12. R. Schätti (Swi) 17 17 13 -- -- -- 47 13. Lucio Bramati (Ita) 22 7 10 -- -- -- 39 14. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) -- 12 26 -- -- -- 38 15. Beat Wabel (Swi) 30 -- 7 -- -- -- 37 16. Henrik Djernis (Den) -- 6 11 13 -- -- 30 16. J. Chiotti (Fra) -- -- 15 15 -- -- 30 18. C. Morel (Fra) -- 13 14 -- -- -- 27 19. Ben Berden (Bel) -- -- 12 11 -- -- 23 20. D. Pagnier (Fra) 13 -- 6 -- -- -- 19 20. Sven Nijs (Bel) -- -- -- 19 -- -- 19 22. P. Blum (Swi) 7 10 -- -- -- -- 17 22. O. Lukes (Cze) -- 9 8 -- -- -- 17 24. Bart Wellens (Bel) -- -- -- 16 -- -- 16 25. Arne Daelmans (Bel) -- -- -- 14 -- -- 14 26. Erik Boezewinkel (Ned) 6 -- -- 7 -- -- 13 27. A. Büsser (Swi) 12 -- -- -- -- -- 12 28. C. Duval (Fra) 11 -- -- -- -- -- 11 28. K. Ausbuher (Cze) -- 11 -- -- -- -- 11 30. Dominic Arnould (Fra) 9 -- -- -- -- -- 9 31. D. Süssemilch (Swi) 8 -- -- -- -- -- 8 31. M. Martinez (Fra) -- -- -- 8 -- -- 8 31. F.J. Nieberding (Ger) -- 8 -- -- -- -- 8 34. G. Gommers (Ned) -- -- -- 6 -- -- 6 |