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GP Rouwmoer - C2
Essen, Belgium, December 16, 2006
Unexpected win for Sven Nys
By Brecht Decaluwé
UCI-leader Sven Nys is in the middle of an intensive training week, including nights in his high-altitude room. The question arose if a vulnerable Nys at roughly 80% would be beatable or not. "I rode defensively today as I didn't expect too much from this weekend. I did want to be as strong as I could today but that might have turned out bad," Nys said.
The Belgian wasn't as dominant as usual but he managed to grab an important victory in the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee. Nys agreed, "it turned out great as I won the race, so I guess I made the right decisions." (Past two GvA races: Oudenaarde and Niel.)
The current leader in the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee, Bart Wellens, didn't like Nys' tactics today; the Belgian was in sight all race long but couldn't keep Nys from victory in Essen. "I went flat out all race long but Nys was very passive. Then he surprised me with an attack and took hundred metres; it stayed hundred metres..." a disappointed Wellens said. The blonde Fidea rider is unsure for the 'cross classic in Overijse tomorrow (Monday); Wellens is currently on antibiotics.
The Rabobank team once again proved to be the strongest block with three riders in the top five.
How it unfolded
Klaas Vantornout (Fidea) managed the hole shot on the drenched course of Essen. He was followed by Nys, Wellens, De Knegt and local boy Aernouts. During the second lap Sven Nys launched his first attack and grabbed the bonus points at the end of that lap. His team mates De Knegt and Vanthourenhout followed the UCI-leader, together with Nys' main rival Bart Wellens.
During the next lap Wellens and Nys were pursued by 20 year-old Niels Albert. A technical error from Nys allowed Wellens to ride alone in the lead. "I got stuck behind the ribbon with my handlebars close to a post. I needed to dismount my bike but then I was able start the chase," Nys explained. The Belgian easily got back to Wellens; the Dutch duo Groenendaal and De Knegt bridged the gap as well, and so did young Niels Albert.
Wellens and Nys were clearly the strongest riders and distanced the three other riders in the closing laps. Wellens did most of the work in front but in the penultimate lap Nys surprised the Fidea rider. Sven Nys cruised towards an unexpected sixteenth victory of the season. Wellens, De Knegt, Groenendaal and Albert completed the top five.
Results
Elite and U23 Men 1 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 1.02.34 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.12 3 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 0.26 4 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1.09 5 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 6 Petr Dlask (Cze) Empella Czech Team 1.27 7 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 1.28 8 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 1.36 9 Wilant VanGils 1.39 10 Thijs Al (Ned) Bejan Rings 2.08 11 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 2.22 12 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 2.36 13 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 2.55 14 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 3.07 15 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank 3.34 16 Maxime Lefebvre (Fra) 3.49 17 Dieter Vanthourenhout 4.00 18 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4.23 19 David Willemsens (Bel) WC Vos Sportief Sint 4.30 20 Kenny Geluykens (Bel) 4.37 21 Arne Daelmans (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 4.57 22 Rob Peeters (Bel) 5.24 23 Maarten Nijland (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 5.29 24 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) 6.16 25 Camiel Van Den Bergh (Ned) Stevens Racing Team 6.27 26 Paul Voqs (Ger) 6.51 27 Marco Bianco (Ita) 7.24 One lap down 28 Bart Verschueren (Bel) 29 Patrick Van Leeuwen 30 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 31 Jan Arnouts (Bel) 32 Konrad Opitz (Ger) Beginners 1 Sean De Bie (Bel) 2 Moreno Hofland 3 Mike Teunissen (Bel) 4 Wietse Bosmans (Bel) 5 Michael Peeters (Bel) 6 Jelle Veraart (Bel) 7 Karl Peeters (Bel) 8 Michel Elst (Bel) 9 Jurrien Bosters 10 Raf Risbourg (Bel) 11 Kay Welten (Bel) 12 Jeffrey Mellemans (Bel) 13 Thijs Van Aert (Bel) 14 Jens Joosen (Bel) 15 Dennid Stultiens 16 Niels Meeusen (Bel) 17 Christophe Ysenbaardt (Bel) 18 Robert Watson (GBr) 19 Dirk Van de Westelaken 20 Berten De Meyer (Bel) 21 Thomas Moses (GBr) 22 Dimitri Michielsen (Bel) 23 Sam Van Mierop (Bel) 24 Koen Vandeput (Bel) 25 Ingmar Uytdewilligen (Bel) 26 Paul Young (GBr) 27 Oliver Webster (GBr) 28 Tijs Arnouts (Bel) 29 Joeri Vermeiren (Bel) 30 Mike Mutsaert (Bel) Juniors 1 Jim Aernouts (Bel) 36.30 2 Tim Debuschere (Bel) 0.52 3 Sam Webster (GBr) 1.02 4 Stef Boden (Bel) 1.23 5 Hans Antonissen (Bel) 6 Bart Bruyndonckx (Bel) 7 Jochen Torfs (Bel) 8 Sven Beelen (Bel) 9 Vincent Meyvis (Bel) 10 Thomas Gysbrechts (Bel) 11 Jordy Van Erp (Bel) 12 Sam Van Hemelen (Bel) GvA Trophee standings 1 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 133 pts 2 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 132 3 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 115 4 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 112 5 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 6 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 97 pts 7 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 90 8 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank 90 9 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 83 10 David Willemsens (Bel) WC Vos Sportief Sint 69 11 Wilant Van Gils (Ned) ZZPR.nl 68 12 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 58 13 Thijs Al (Ned) B & E Cycling Team 14 Petr Dlask (Cze) Empella Czech Team 54 pts 15 Arne Daelmazns (Bel) 52 16 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 48 17 Maxime Lefebvre (Fra) 46 18 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Morgan Blue 43 19 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) AVB Asbestverwijdering 40 20 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 39 21 Jan Soetens (Bel) 38 22 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R 31 23 Maarten Nijland (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 31 24 Nico Berckmans (Bel) 26 25 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 23 26 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 23 27 Radomir Simunek 22 28 Isaac Suarez (Spa) 17 29 Wim Jacobs (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 12 30 Stijn Penne (Bel) 12 31 Camiel Van Den Bergh (Ned) Stevens Racing Team 12 32 Jorn Van der Veken (Bel) 11 33 David Meys (Bel) Profel Cycling Team 8 34 Marek Cichosz (Pol) 35 Paul Voss (Ger) 5 pts 36 Roel van Houtem 4 37 Marius Gil (Pol) Strzelce Krajenskie 4 38 Gerry Weckx (Bel) 4 39 Marco Bianco (Ita) 40 Geert Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 3 pts 41 Michael Muller (Swi) 1 42 Jimmy Tielens (Bel) 1 43 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 1 U23 Standings 1 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) 78 pts 2 Rob Peeters (Bel) 70 3 Kenny Geluykens (Bel) 52 4 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) 39 5 Jemy Drucker (Lux) 34 6 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) 29 7 Bart Verschueren (Bel) 27 8 Lukás Kloucek (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 20 9 Clément L’hotellerie (Bel) 17 10 Eddy Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 16 11 Maxim De Busschere (Bel) 14 12 Kay Van den Brande (Bel) 13 13 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 12 14 Patrick van Leeuwen 12 15 Ondrej Bambula (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 11 16 Rik Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 11 17 Dries Govaerts (Bel) 10 18 Jo Pirotte (Bel) 9 19 Gianni Denolf (Bel) 8 20 Jan Arnouts (Bel) 8 21 Thomas Vermaeckt (Bel) 7 22 Laurens e Vreese (Bel) 7 23 Daan de Jone 6 24 Kristof Luyten (Bel) 6 25 Mitchell Huenders 5 26 Hans Becking 4 27 Dennis Verhoeven (Bel) 4 28 Sylvester Janiszewski (Pol) 3 29 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) 3 30 Dawid Romanowski (Pol) 2 31 Pieter Reekmans (Bel) 2 32 Frantisek Kloucek (Cze) Author Praha (Bel) 1 33 David Bertram (Ger) 1
