ReportThe third round of the SuperPrestige Cyclo Cross was held in Gieten, the Netherlands, which is right up in the north in woodland just east of Assen. Assen is just south of the main centre in this region Groningen. Dutch ace Rabobanks Richard Groenendaal, won the race and in doing so has maintained a perfect 3 from 3 record in the SuperPrestige round for 1997-98.He won from his team mate and fellow Dutchman, the indefatigable Adri van der Poel. From the start the Dutch pair dominated the race. They had a gap of 7 seconds after lap 1, with 10 riders in a bunch trailing behind. During the second lap, Groenendaal fell in some water. He was back on his bike quickly and regained contact with van der Poel within the same lap. Over the next two laps, the Belgian hopefuls Bart Wellens and Sven Nijs worked together to recapture the two leaders. They didnt make much impression and the gap remained at 10 seconds. With 3 laps to go Sven Nijs punctured. Adri van der Poel also had mechanical problems (gears) and this gave Groenendaal the advantage which he held until the finish. He won from 25 seconds on van der Poel with the youthful Belgian, Bart Wellens next to finish in third place. Results1. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1.02.00 2. Adri van der Poel (Ned Rabobank 0.25 3. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0.59 4. Marc Janssens (Bel) 1.35 5. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1.50 6. P. van Santvliet (Bel) 1.59 7. A. Daelmans (Bel) 2.10 8. Wim de Vos (Ned) 9. Mario de Clercq (Bel) Palmans 10. B. Berden (Bel) 11. A. Moonen (Bel) 12. Sven Nijs (Bel) 13. Erik Boezewinkel (Ned) 14. M. Nijland (Ned) 15. L. Bramati (Ita) Overall SuperPrestige Standings after Race 3:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total 1. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 15 15 15 -- -- -- -- -- -- 45 2. Adri van der Poel (Ned 12 11 14 -- -- -- -- -- -- 37 3. Bart Wellens (Bel) 11 12 13 -- -- -- -- -- -- 36 4. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 14 7 11 -- -- -- -- -- -- 32 5. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 9 14 7 -- -- -- -- -- -- 30 6. Andy Daelmans (Bel) 8 9 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- 26 7. Marc Janssens (Bel) 7 3 12 -- -- -- -- -- -- 22 8. Sven Nijs (Bel) -- 13 4 -- -- -- -- -- -- 17 9. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 6 -- 10 -- -- -- -- -- -- 16 10. Richard Simunek (Cze) 5 10 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 15 11. Luca Bramati (Ita) 10 4 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 15 12. Danny de Bie (Bel) 13 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 13 13. B. Berden (Bel) 4 1 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- 11 14. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 2 8 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 10 15. Erik Boezewinkel (Ned) 1 5 3 -- -- -- -- -- -- 9 16. Wim de Vos (Ned) -- -- 8 -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 17. K. de Roose (Bel) -- 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 6 18. A. Moonen (Bel) -- -- 5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 5 19. P. van den Abeele (Bel) 3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 20. R. Lubberman (Ned) -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 21. M. Nijland (Ned) -- -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 |