3rd Mondial de la Presse

Koersel, Belgium, October 5, 2002

2001 Results Results Past winners

Dutch and Belgians dominate Journo World's

By Jeff Jones

The third staging of the "Mondial de la Presse" (Journalists World Championships) was a Dutch and Belgian affair, with Menno Grootjans (Ned) winning the Under 45 category and Rik Lintermans (Bel) triumphing in the Over 45's. Both riders were awarded special green jerseys with rainbow stripes (green being the colour of the press accreditation at the Tour de France), as well as winning trips to Mallorca next year, courtesy of Fred Rompelberg Tours, the head sponsor of the event.

The races were held just outside the town of Koersel in conjunction with the Medical World Championships. Although the organisers wanted to use the Zolder parcours, preparations for next week's real World Championships prevented this. The course that was chosen was 6 km long and located in a forest, which provided some shelter from the steady rain that fell throughout the day. The finish was at the top of a short hill, which would make things interesting in the sprint. Both categories had to complete 9 laps for a total of 54 km.

The Under 45 race was held at 9:00 (contrary to the advertised time of 12:00), and was won by Dutch rider Menno Grootjans (Fiets magazine) from Belgian VRT commentator Karl Vannieuwkerken and Belgian Sven Spoormakers, a former national U23 champion in a nine man sprint. Last year's champion Harry Ruiterkamp finished in 10th place. No further details can be provided at this stage, however your correspondent was at least able to get a unique view of the Over 45's race that followed.

The winner of the previous two editions of this race, Italian Eugenio Capodacqua (La Republica) was facing tougher opposition this year, with the likes of triple Tour de France stage winner Peter Winnen (Ned) taking part in the race. Capodacqua spent a lot of time near the front, warily watching and chasing the attacks, which were frequent during the first couple of laps. However at the end of the third lap, Belgian Rik Lintermans accelerated on the uphill finishing section, and no-one reacted immediately, allowing him to get a 10 second gap.

Lintermans kept going for the next few laps, gradually opening up a lead as the rest of the peloton refused to commit itself to a chase. When it reached 45 seconds with 4 laps to go, it was looking very much like a winning lead, given the lack of organisation behind. Over the second half of the race, Peter Winnen tried several accelerations, but each time the remaining members of the dwindling peloton would attach themselves to his wheel one by one, and he couldn't break the elastic.

The speed increased over the final two laps, and there was an outside chance that Lintermans would be caught, with compatriot Pierre Daniels doing a lot of work. However it was too late, and Lintermans finished with a clear margin over the field. Daniels managed to get away in the final 2 km to take the silver medal, while Dutchman Peter de Groot won the uphill bunch sprint for the bronze.

Results

Under 45 yrs - 54 km

1 Menno Grootjans (Ned)             1.22.00 (39.5 km/h)
2 Karl Vannieuwkerken (Bel)
3 Sven Spoormakers (Bel)
4 Frederic Millet (Fra)
5 Jens Jonas Coert (Ned)
6 Frederic Dohen (Fra)
7 Niels Wiestra (Ned)
8 Stijn Vossen (Bel)
9 Bart De Schampheleire (Bel)
10 Harry Ruiterkamp (Ned)
11 Marc Koghee (Ned)
12 Jean-Charles Verguet (Fra)
13 Laurent Heurtois (Fra)
14 Rinaldo Bernardi (Ita)
15 Frederic Backelandt (Bel)
16 Frederic Iehl (Fra)
17 Philippe Maertens (Bel)
18 Robert Crommentuyn (Ned)
19 Van Den Berkmortel (Ned)
20 Mick Enckelaar (Ned)
21 Jan De Coninck (Bel)
22 Guy Vallée (Fra)
23 Claudio Chisalberti (Ita)
24 Koen De Reu (Bel)
25 Nico Vanhee (Bel)
26 Raymond De Saegher (Bel)
27 Frederic Haslin (Fra)
28 Koen Hellemans (Bel)
29 Yves Peeters (Bel)
30 Mitch Friedman (USA)
DNF Mick Van Loon (Bel)
DNF Chris Snick (Bel)
DNF Arne Hanseeuw (Bel)
DNF Frederick Normand (Fra)
DNF Geert Paternoster (Bel)
DNF Mathieuw Lerch (Fra)
DNF Robert van Willigenburg (Ned)

Over 45 yrs - 54 km

1 Rik Lintermans (Bel)                 1.24.00 (38.6 km/h)
2 Pierre Daniels (Bel)
3 Peter de Groot (Ned)
4 Arian Kuil (Ned)
5 Wim van Rooy (Ned)
6 Pieter Eversdijk (Ned)
7 Peter Winnen (Ned)
8 Kees Vreeken (Ned)
9 Eugenio Capodacqua (Ita)
10 Werner Jespers (Bel)
11 Johan Heleven (Bel)
12 Eddy Moens (Bel)
13 Erik D'Ailly (Ned)
14 Jacques Girodet (Fra)
15 Giuliano Dolfini (Ita)
16 Karel Berckmans (Ned)
17 Francois Porter (Fra)
18 Ruggero Quadrelli (Ita)
19 Teunis van Helden (Ned)
20 Jean-Francois Labonne (Fra)
DNF Frank Caperntier (Bel)

Past winners

<45 yrs

2001 Harry Ruiterkamp (Ned)
2000 Franck Chopin (Fra)

>45 yrs

2001 Eugenio Capodacqua (Ita)
2000 Eugenio Capodacqua (Ita)