GP Zwevegem, National Event (No UCI Points)

Belgium, September 15, 1997

Race Report

Van Petegem sabotaged the Ipso attempt at getting the winning flowers in the GP Zwevegem. The rider from Brakel (Belgium) held it in the sprint. Spaenhoven and Dewilde we the first to attack. They clearly showed their intentions. The two were no given much room though. In the finale, Christ Heyndryckx and De Wael tried it on. They shared a 45 second gap, but could not hold of the pursuit of the peloton. Van Slycke and Eric De Clercq were the next to try. They built up a handful of seconds, but could not get away from the Ipso team.

With 7 kms to the finish, it was clearly going to be a mass sprint. Vanhaesebroucke tried six times to get to the finish first. In the last 40 metres he was caught by Van Petegem who was the fastest. "My revenge for the forfeit of TVM for Paris-Brussel and GP Fourmies. I have been training for 2 hours extra per day. This will be good for Paris-Tours, Paris-Bourges and the Worlds".

Race distance - 155 kms

  1. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM  		3.33.00 (43,662 km/h)
  2. Franky Van Haesebroucke (Bel) Ipso
  3. Andy De Smet (Bel) Ipso
  4. Michel Cornelisse (Ned) Foreldorado
  5. Peter Spaenhoven (Bel) Palmans
  6. Dennis Moons (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002
  7. Ronny Assez (Bel) RDM
  8. Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Palmans
  9. Geert Omloop (Bel) EC Bayer
 10. Tim Lenaers (Bel) Collstrop
 11. Danny Daelman (Bel) Palmans
 12. Martin Van Steen (Ned) Continentale (s)
 13. Matthew Gilmore (Aus) RDM
 14. Werner Vandromme (Bel) RDM
 15. Pedro Rubrecht (Bel) Palmans
 16. Dany Baeyens (Bel) Collstrop
 17. Pascal Dufourni (Bel) Cedico
 18. Patrick De Wael (Bel) EC Bayer
 19. Christ Hendrickx (Bel) Palmans
 20. Patrick Stijlemans (Bel) elite
 21. Hans De Meester
 22. Christophe Leewerck
 23. Kurt Sobrie
 24. Casper van der Meer (Ned)
 25. Peter Verbeken
 26. Steven De Neef
 27. Koen Beeckman
 28. Bart Heirewegh
 29. Gunther Stockx
 30. Jan Poppe

60 Starters
Belgian unless noted