15th Memorial Rik van Steenbergen - 1.1

Belgium, September 6, 2006

2005 Results Results Past winners

Belgian champ on top in Aartselaar

Belgian champion Niko Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques) won the 16th Memorial Van Steenbergen in Aartselaar in a bunch sprint. Eeckhout was quicker than Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) and Steffen Radochla (Wiesenhof) after a group of 31 riders fought it out for the victory. It was Eeckhout's eighth win of the season.

The race was conducted in perfect conditions with a rare warm day greeting the peloton. From the start, the pace was very high, with the final average speed of over 47 km/h reflecting this. With some 40 km to go, the bunch split as a group of 31 riders got clear. A notable absentee was World Champion Tom Boonen (Quick.Step), who just failed to make the cut.

Chocolade Jacques and future ProTour team Unibet were the best represented teams up front, with five riders each. Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques) and Frederic Amorison (Landbouwkrediet) tried their hand with around 10 km to go, but were caught with just over a kilometre to go. A last gasp attack by McEwen's teammate Nico Mattan did not succeed, and Eeckhout powered to the line with a comfortable margin over McEwen and Radochla.

Results - 200 km

1 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen           4.15.30 (47.061 km/h)
2 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
3 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud
4 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Unibet.com
5 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Team Lamonta
6 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
7 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic
8 Bart Veyt (Bel) Flanders
9 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
10 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank Continental
11 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
12 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
13 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) Skil-Shimano
14 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
15 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
16 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Kaiku
17 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
18 Geert Omloop (Bel) Unibet.com
19 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
20 Serge Baguet (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic
21 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Rabobank Continental
22 Peter Wuyts (Bel) Palmans Collstrop
23 Björn Glasner (Ger) Team Lamonta
24 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
25 Leo Fortin (Fra) Credit Agricole
26 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen          0.09
27 Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
28 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team                  0.12
29 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Unibet.com                                          0.18
30 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Unibet.com                                         0.38
31 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com                                      1.08
32 Eduard Bogaert (Bel) Yawadoo-Colba-ABM                               11.30
33 Andrew Vancoillie (Bel) Profel Ziegler Continental Team              12.05
34 Glenn Poleunis (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life-Jong Vlaanderen
35 Kenny Van Braeckel (Bel) Profel Ziegler Continental Team
36 Matti Helminen (Fin) Profel Ziegler Continental Team
37 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole
38 Tom Veelers (Ned) Rabobank Continental
39 Andreas Stauff (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud
40 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
41 Huub Duyn (Ned) Rabobank Continental
42 Mashahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Skil-Shimano
43 Hamish Robert Haynes (GBr) Jartazi-7Mobile
44 Ruben Oarbeascoa Ispizua (Spa) Kaiku
45 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Kaiku
46 Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Spa) Kaiku
47 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano
48 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Kaiku
49 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life-Jong Vlaanderen
50 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Pictoflex Bikeland
51 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano
52 Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Team Lamonta
53 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
54 Benjamin Brooks (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
55 Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
56 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
57 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Skil-Shimano
58 Alexander Kareev (Rus) Flanders
59 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
60 Christoph Roodhooft (Bel) Palmans Collstrop
61 David Deroo (Fra) Skil-Shimano
62 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Crédit Agricole
63 Frederik Penne (Bel) Yawadoo-Colba-ABM
64 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago

Starters: 164
Classified: 64

Past winners

2005 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 200 km in 4.17.39
2004 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon    201 km in 4.19.00
2003 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo           199 km in 4.42.00
2002 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Team Coast        200 km in 4.25.00
2001 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
2000 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Française Des Jeux 203 km in 4.24.40
1999 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 200 km in 4.32.51
1998 Jan Svorada (Cze)
1997 Andrej Tchmil (Ukr)
1996 Jans Koerts (Ned)
1995 Tom Steels (Bel)
1994 Djamolidine Abdujaparov (Uzb)
1993 Mario Cipollini (Ita)
1992 Olaf Ludwig (Ger)


Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com