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Heuvelland Tweedaagse - SC
Netherlands, May 10-12, 2002
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Stage 4 - May 12: Klimmen, 106 km
Thomas Dekker wins Heuvelland Tweedaagse
By Bert Saarloos, Dagblad de Limburger
With a brilliant ride in the time trial Dutchman Thomas Dekker took the final victory in the Heuvelland Tweedaagse tour, the second race on the Super Calendar (Junior World Cup). Dekker, not related to pro Erik, was 15 seconds ahead of Finland's Jukka Vastaranta, last year's tour and SC winner.
The tour had hardly begun when there was a massive fall. The end of the neutralisation was on a downhill section, with the road wet from some rain earlier. The jostling of the riders to get up front as quickly as possible at high speed (going downhill), caused a major fall in the peloton. Several riders hung in the barbed wire and Rik Kavsek of the organising club TWC Maaslandster/Zuid-Limburg, a first year junior, had to be taken to the hospital in Heerlen where his right eyebrow had to be stitched.
The riders had to do three laps of 28 kilometres containing three major climbs: the Bronkweg at Elkenrade (9 km), the King of Italy (13.5 km) and the GPM-climb the Vrakelberg (19 km). On the small, hilly and winding roads of South-Limburg, 40 riders managed to get clear. The sprint uphill was quite close, Dane Matti Breschel (Team PH) beating Dutch Jos Harms (Rabobank).
Four laps of 21 kms had to be taken in stage two, containing three climbs: the Koekoeksweg (5 km), the Fromberg (13 km) and the Walemerberg (GPM, 17.5 km). The race again started with a fall, but no-one got seriously injured. First there was an attack by Julien Tomasi (France) and Marc de Maar, then by Albert Timmer (District South East), Dmitriy Kozonchuk (St. Petersburg), Jos Harms (Rabobank) and Ingmar De Poortere (Sweet Paradise), but the pace in the peloton, mainly set by Jukka Vastaranta, was too high.
Lap three saw a breakaway of three riders: Jelle Vanendert (Sweet Paradise), Chris Sørensen (Team PH) and Wouter Weylandt (MEZ Team). But again the pack, by this time reduced to 25 riders, caught them swiftly, so 28 riders sprinted for the stage win. Jukka Vastaranta (Saturn) was looking like getting his first stage win this year but in the final metres the Finn was overtaken by Slovakian Peter Velits. Matti Breschel hung on to his yellow jersey.
Later that day a new order would be set in the hilly ITT of 9.8 km, including the Koekoeksweg climb, in which Jukka Vastaranta was the big favourite, setting the course record at 13.32 last year. Belgian Jurgen Roelandts (MEZ Team) set a good time (14.17), but he was immediately overtaken by Thomas Dekker, riding a superb time of 13.45. There were still 17 riders to finish, but by the time the top-four started, Dekker's time was still the fastest.
Slovakian Matej Jurco (4th) lost 45 seconds, but then Jukka Vastaranta was about to finish. Everyone expected him to beat Dekker's time but the Finn failed, clocking 14.02, 0.17 behind Dekker, a landslide gap in a short time trial like this.
Jos Harms (second on GC) lost 37 seconds, so only leader Matti Breschel (Team PH) could prevent Dekker from taking the yellow jersey. The Dane rode a disappointing time trial, coming in 55 seconds behind Dekker. Breschel had been hindered by a car suddenly coming up the road two kilometres before the finish but breaking to avoid a crash did not cost him more than ten seconds.
Thomas Dekker, a time trial specialist (winning three out of four ITT's this season), was the new leader, Vastaranta following at 15 seconds. "I am disappointed", Vastaranta said. "Last year I was so much faster."
It was uncertain if the Finn would attack the position of Dekker in the final stage, since Vastaranta is sometimes a teammate of Dekker. Vastaranta last year already signed a contract to enter the Rabobank U23 team in 2003. Director sportif Frans Maassen (former Dutch pro champion and Amstel Gold Race winner) would love to have him in his Rabobank juniors team, but Maassen is bound to an agreement with the Dutch cycling union that the team is only open for Dutch juniors. Until Vastaranta becomes a member of the Rabobank U23 squad Maassen has put him into the care of the American Saturn team.
Asking Vastaranta if he would attack next day, he said: "I don't think so. Dekker is Rabobank." But he did.
Frans Maassen, having three riders plus Vastaranta in the top five, wanted to test his team on the final stage, the longest (106 kms) and toughest (three hard climbs: Fromberg, Ribbelheide, Klingeleberg) of the race. Rabobank should not win too easily, Maassen thought. Only hard racing makes you a better rider. Learning by suffering. And suffering the Rabobank-boys did.
In the third of five laps of 21 kilometres a group of six riders escaped. With one lap to go, three of them had to let go, leaving Russian Dmitriy Kozonchuk (St. Petersburg), Belgian Jochen Beernaert (KSV Deerlijk) and Peter Velits (Slovakia) up front, the first peloton following at two minutes. Kozonchuk was practically the only one doing the pace work, being virtually the new leader (he was only 0.54 behind on GC).
Rabobank seemed to be unable to bridge the gap. With 15 kilometres to go, the gap was still two minutes. "I really was getting worried then", Maassen said. And Dekker: "At that time I did not think I would win the tour anymore."
But Jukka Vastaranta saved the tour for Rabobank, unintentionally. The Finn counterattacked and only eight riders, including Dekker, were able to follow. But barely. "I thought Vastaranta would take it. On the climbs I could not keep his wheel."
Vastaranta looked as if he would bridge the gap to the three leaders on his own, but the Finn punctured and fell back into the chasing group of the yellow jersey. The three leaders managed to stay ahead, with Beernaert winning the sprint, but because of Vastaranta's fierce pace their lead had melted to twenty seconds, saving Dekker's yellow jersey.
Results
1 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 3.01.49 2 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 0.02 3 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 0.07 4 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 0.20 5 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 6 Joost Leijen van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 7 Matej Jurco (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 8 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) MEZ-Team 9 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 10 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 11 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 0.25 12 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 13 Anders Lund (Den) Team PH Danemark 0.46 14 Egon Kessel van (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 1.04 15 Oliver Stiler-Cote (USA) Saturn Team 1.27 16 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) District Zuid West 17 Bert De Baeker (Bel) MEZ-Team 18 Nico Graf (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 19 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) MEZ-Team 1.36 20 Maikel Paas (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 21 Florian Courrege (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 22 Michel Bultinck (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 23 Frederik Herpol (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 24 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 25 Ruud Rentmeester (Ned) District Zuid West 26 Michael Muck (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 27 Huub Duyn (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 28 Nick Ingels (Bel) MEZ-Team 29 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 30 Marc Maar de (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 31 Christophe Fabri (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 1.45 32 GeertJan Jonkman (Ned) District Noord Holland 1.48 33 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 1.51 34 Ingmard De Poortere (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 1.56 35 Ivo Vilumovs (Lat) Latvia Sel. Nat. 2.07 36 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 37 Arne Hassink (Ned) District Oost 2.14 38 Ward Koster (Ned) District Noord Holland 2.23 39 Jonas De Decker (Bel) Think Media Cycling Team 2.28 40 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 3.17 41 Sebastian Paddags (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 7.26 42 Emmanuel Roche (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 7.27 43 Julien Tomasi (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 7.27 44 Leon Makarovic (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 8.01 45 Mike Alloo (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 8.26 46 Berry Nagelhout (Ned) District Oost 8.29 47 Thom Dulmen van (Ned) District Oost 8.34 48 Davy Franssen (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 8.38 49 Erwin Den Hollander (Ned) District Zuid West 8.40 50 Albert Timmer (Ned) District Oost 8.44 51 Craig Wilcox (USA) Saturn Team 52 Maarten Jonge de (Ned) District Oost 8.47 53 Jasper Heeswijk van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 11.45 54 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 55 Hareld Guttink (Ned) District Noord 11.49 56 Florian Louis (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 12.00 57 Frans Drent (Ned) District Noord 12.41 58 Niels Blauw de (Ned) District Noord 12.41 59 Artur Gajek (Ger) Nordrhein-Westfalen Sel. 12.41 60 Xavier Van Hille (Bel) Think Media Cycling Team 12.49 61 Jeroen Kregel (Ned) District Noord 14.50 62 Ronny LŸdtke (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 17.50 63 Onno Gerritsen (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 64 Moritz Veit (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 65 Sjors Clevers (Ned) District Limburg 66 Remco Bouwens (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 67 Mark Nellen (Ned) District Limburg 68 Yoeri Wannijn (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 69 Benjamin Brandauer (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 70 Bozidar Stajkovac (Ned) District Noord Holland 71 Ilia Tchernetski (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 72 Dennis Martens (Ned) District Zuid West 73 Constantin Weiler (Ger) Team Mapei Bayern-Junioren 18.00 Mountains 1 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 15 2 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 10 3 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 5 4 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 5 5 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 5 6 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 4 7 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 3 8 Sebastian Paddags (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 3 9 Christophe Fabri (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2 10 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 1 Sprints 1 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 17 2 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 6 3 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 4 4 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 4 5 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 3 6 Florian Courrege (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 2 7 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 1 8 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 1 9 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 1 Teams 1 Rabobank Wielerploeg 9.07.48 2 Team PH Danemark 0.21 3 MEZ-Team 1.04 4 Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2.56 5 Allemagne Sel. Nat. 6.54 6 Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 8.01 7 Saturn Team 8.10 8 District Zuid West 9.24 9 France Sel. Nat. 14.09 10 District Oost 16.56 11 KSV Deerlijk 17.05 12 District Noord Holland 19.40 13 TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 25.43 14 District Zuid-Oost 28.18 15 District Noord 34.50 16 Wurttemberg Sel. 34.55 Final general classification 1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 7.41.30 2 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 0.15 3 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 0.37 4 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 0.41 5 Matej Jurco (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 0.43 6 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 0.48 7 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 0.50 8 Joost Leijen van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 1.07 9 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 1.08 10 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) MEZ-Team 1.22 11 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 2.02 12 Huub Duyn (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 2.08 13 Bert De Baeker (Bel) MEZ-Team 2.12 14 Marc Maar de (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 2.17 15 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) District Zuid West 2.22 16 Egon Kessel van (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 2.33 17 Nick Ingels (Bel) MEZ-Team 2.35 18 Ingmard De Poortere (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2.44 19 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) MEZ-Team 2.55 20 Michael Muck (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 3.09 21 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 3.10 22 Nico Graf (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 3.18 23 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 3.40 24 Michel Bultinck (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 3.44 25 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 4.02 26 Ruud Rentmeester (Ned) District Zuid West 4.02 27 Maikel Paas (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 4.02 28 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 4.10 29 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 4.25 30 Florian Courrege (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 5.31 31 Frederik Herpol (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 7.27 32 Oliver Stiler-Cote (USA) Saturn Team 8.32 33 Emmanuel Roche (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 8.48 34 Leon Makarovic (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 8.53 35 Sebastian Paddags (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 8.58 36 GeertJan Jonkman (Ned) District Noord Holland 10.22 37 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 10.37 38 Mike Alloo (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 11.01 39 Christophe Fabri (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 11.43 40 Julien Tomasi (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 11.45 41 Ivo Vilumovs (Lat) Latvia Sel. Nat. 13.01 42 Artur Gajek (Ger) Nordrhein-Westfalen Sel. 14.43 43 Albert Timmer (Ned) District Oost 15.22 44 Jonas De Decker (Bel) Think Media Cycling Team 16.22 45 Ward Koster (Ned) District Noord Holland 16.31 46 Anders Lund (Den) Team PH Danemark 16.48 47 Thom Dulmen van (Ned) District Oost 17.35 48 Onno Gerritsen (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 18.41 49 Davy Franssen (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 19.56 50 Yoeri Wannijn (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 20.12 51 Xavier Van Hille (Bel) Think Media Cycling Team 20.51 52 Hareld Guttink (Ned) District Noord 21.58 53 Jasper Heeswijk van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 21.58 54 Arne Hassink (Ned) District Oost 22.17 55 Moritz Veit (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 23.05 56 Benjamin Brandauer (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 23.11 57 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 23.33 58 Erwin Den Hollander (Ned) District Zuid West 24.06 59 Maarten Jonge de (Ned) District Oost 24.13 60 Ronny LŸdtke (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 24.18 61 Florian Louis (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 24.41 62 Mark Nellen (Ned) District Limburg 27.23 63 Ilia Tchernetski (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 27.29 64 Niels Blauw de (Ned) District Noord 27.30 65 Frans Drent (Ned) District Noord 27.31 66 Sjors Clevers (Ned) District Limburg 28.26 67 Berry Nagelhout (Ned) District Oost 28.42 68 Jeroen Kregel (Ned) District Noord 30.45 69 Constantin Weiler (Ger) Team Mapei Bayern-Junioren 30.58 70 Dennis Martens (Ned) District Zuid West 33.22 71 Craig Wilcox (USA) Saturn Team 35.16 72 Bozidar Stajkovac (Ned) District Noord Holland 36.53 73 Remco Bouwens (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 39.15 Best young rider 1 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 7.42.38 2 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 0.54 3 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) District Zuid West 1.14 4 Egon Kessel van (Ned) District Zuid-Oost 1.25 5 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) MEZ-Team 1.47 6 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 2.02 7 Nico Graf (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 2.10 8 Michel Bultinck (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2.36 9 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2.54 10 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 3.02 11 Mike Alloo (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 9.53 12 Christophe Fabri (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 10.35 13 Ivo Vilumovs (Lat) Latvia Sel. Nat. 11.53 14 Artur Gajek (Ger) Nordrhein-Westfalen Sel. 13.35 15 Albert Timmer (Ned) District Oost 14.14 16 Jonas De Decker (Bel) Think Media Cycling Team 15.14 17 Anders Lund (Den) Team PH Danemark 15.40 18 Thom Dulmen van (Ned) District Oost 16.27 19 Maarten Jonge de (Ned) District Oost 23.05 20 Mark Nellen (Ned) District Limburg 26.15 21 Jeroen Kregel (Ned) District Noord 29.37 22 Constantin Weiler (Ger) Team Mapei Bayern-Junioren 29.50 23 Dennis Martens (Ned) District Zuid West 32.14 24 Remco Bouwens (Ned) TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 38.07 Mountains classification 1 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 23 2 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 20 3 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 17 4 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 10 5 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 9 6 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 7 7 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 5 8 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 5 9 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 4 10 Michael Muck (Ger) Wurttemberg Sel. 3 11 Sebastian Paddags (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 3 12 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) MEZ-Team 2 13 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 2 14 Christophe Fabri (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 2 15 Anders Lund (Den) Team PH Danemark 2 16 Nick Ingels (Bel) MEZ-Team 1 17 Florian Courrege (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 1 18 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 1 Sprints classification 1 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 31 2 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 13 3 Florian Courrege (Fra) France Sel. Nat. 7 4 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 6 5 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 6 6 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 6 7 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) MEZ-Team 5 8 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 4 9 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 4 10 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 3 11 Joost Leijen van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 3 12 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 1 13 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 1 14 Marc Maar de (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 1 15 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH Danemark 1 Points classification 1 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Saturn Team 32 2 Matti Breschel (Den) Team PH Danemark 28 3 Peter Velits (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 27 4 Matej Jurco (Svk) Slovaquie Sel. Nat. 22 5 Joost Leijen van (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 20 6 Jos Harms (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 16 7 Jochen Beernaert (Bel) KSV Deerlijk 15 8 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 12 9 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) R.O. St.Petersburg Russie 10 10 Grega Bole (Slo) Slovenie Sel. Nat. 10 11 Nick Ingels (Bel) MEZ-Team 10 12 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) MEZ-Team 6 13 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) Allemagne Sel. Nat. 4 14 Ruud Rentmeester (Ned) District Zuid West 4 15 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) MEZ-Team 3 16 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 3 17 Marc Maar de (Ned) Rabobank Wielerploeg 3 18 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 3 19 Mike Alloo (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 2 20 Huub Duyn (Ned) Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 1 Teams classification 1 Rabobank Wielerploeg 23.07.02 2 MEZ-Team 2.40 3 Sweet Paradise-Domo Cycling Team 7.23 4 Allemagne Sel. Nat. 10.06 5 Pays Bas Sel. Nat. 11.44 6 Team PH Danemark 12.15 7 France Sel. Nat. 21.04 8 District Zuid West 21.15 9 KSV Deerlijk 28.39 10 Saturn Team 41.31 11 District Zuid-Oost 42.15 12 District Oost 46.46 13 Wurttemberg Sel. 46.53 14 District Noord Holland 52.35 15 TWC Maaslandster Zuid-Limburg 1.00.41 16 District Noord 1.08.49
