Nelissen makes his comebackAfter a break of more than 15 months, Wilfried Nelissen rode his first real race again on July 9 at Sint-Niklaas. The race attracted a lot of public and media attention as a consequence. In the Great Market Square of Sint-Niklaas the riders assembled for the start of the race and it was packed with spectators. Television teams swarmed on Willie and his family, who were particularly in large numbers.I have waited for a long time for this moment to come again, but I am not really nervous. I slept well last night and this afternoon I rested near here. I came here early because of the TV teams who wanted to talk. Clearly, I have no ambitions. We will see how well I go." said Wilfried. The public clapped loudly at the start when he was introduced. They were clearly delighted to see him back. After 5 kms of the race, Nelissen attacked with his team mates Van Malderghem, Ken Hashikawa and Franky Van Haesebroucke. Their gap grew in no time to more than 3 minutes. No-one thought that Wilfried would win the race but they were naturally happy to see him going so well. At the 125 km mark, Nelissen stopped. "Yes, I am happy with my test. I stopped because I had some pain. The changeover from 30 kms per hour to 60 kms per hour is something I have to get used to again. Everyone will say that I attacked because I did not want to dare ride in the peleton, but that is just gossip. I wanted to see how I would go surging and going for it. I had hoped for 80 kms but I rode 125", he said after he realised that his average speed for the 125 was nearly 45 kms per hour. "I hope by the end of August that I will be able to ride two kermesse races per week. Then eventually a small stage race. I am not looking further into the future than that. We must now take it from day to day. I am feeling good, but I am not sure that I am the great Nelissen that was" said Wilfried after he had handed in his race number and had washed. Race distance - 170 kms1. Peter Spaenhoven (Hoboken) 170 km in 3.48.00 2. Marc Streel 0.22 3. Brian Dalgaard (Den) 4. Andy De Smet 0.45 5. Hans De Clercq 6. Pedro Rubrecht 7. Jean-Pierre Heynderickx 8. Jakob Piil Storm (Den) 9. Eddy Torrekens 10. Jarno Vanfrachem 11. Gregory Schoelens 12. Davy Dubbeldam (Ned) 13. Rik Van Slycke 14. Kurt Van Lancker 15. Johan De Geyter 16. Magnus Backstedt (Den) 0.50 17. Scott McGrory (Australia) 2.30 18. Michael van der Wolf (Ned) 19. Christ Hendryckx 20. Michel Cornelisse (Ned) 21. Louis de Koning(Ned) 22. Franky Van Haesebroucke 23. Masahiku Mifune (Jap) 24. Geert Verheyen 25. Hans De Ester 26. Marat Ganeev (Rus) 27. Danny Daelman 28. Bart Heirewegh 29. Jason Philips (Australia) 30. Tom Stremersch 69 starters Belgian unless noted |