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Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle (Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee Veldrijden #8) - C1
Oostmalle, Belgium, February 18, 2007
2006 Results Results GVA standings Past winners
Fighter jet Albert against Old Timers
U23 ace displays his class at Oostmalle airport
By Brecht Decaluwé
Young talent Niels Albert (Palmans) has once again shown his class in the ultimate cyclo-cross race of the season at the small airport of Oostmalle. The Belgian U23 champion led the race solo from start to finish and was never brought into troubles on the sandy soils near Antwerp. The up-and-coming ace sprinted away during the first lap on the extremely fast course and nobody was able to stay on his wheels. He extended his lead throughout the race and captured his fourth victory of the season in a professional event. "I had super legs and a super bike," Albert told Sporza TV. The Palmans rider used a new bike from manufacturer Ridley and was delighted with it. "It’s more stiff and lower to the ground, I knew I could win with it. This boosts my morale regarding next season but now I’m ready to lay at the beach in Egypt," Albert added.
Sven Nys (Rabobank), who dominated the season despite not winning neither the Belgian nor the world championships finished second. "I was too far at the back when Albert attacked, but anyway I didn’t recover from yesterday’s race in Vorselaar," Nys said. "Yesterday the season was over for me by grabbing that thirtieth win and completing the Superprestige clean sweep. I’ll keep doing sports during my holidays together with Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb) in the Dominican Republic; from then on the goal is to qualify for the Olympic MTB race," Nys explained.
Vice world champion Jonathan Page (Morgan Blue) outsprinted world champion Erwin Vervecken (Fidea) for the last podium spot and showed that he’s ready to enter a big team next season. "Lots of teams are talking with us but there aren’t any concrete proposals just yet. Anyway this is a great way to finish the season," Page said. The American rider has a few exceptional weeks behind him but there’s more to come for him and his wife Cori. "The baby keeps moving down, I don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl but we’re very excited."
World champion Erwin Vervecken finished fourth but was happy with his performance as he applauded Albert’s feat. "It’s unbelievable what Albert pulled off today. We were going so fast and still he kept extending his lead," Vervecken said. The cyclo-cross travelling circus now splits up and won’t be spotted near Flanders fields before returning in September 2007.
How it unfolded
Under cloudy weather conditions 71 riders got away on the landing field featuring as starting lane. Kamil Ausbuher (Style & Concept) managed the hole shot once again with Thijs Al (BeOne) and last year’s winner Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank) near the front as well. UCI leader Sven Nys (Rabobank) was far down in the pack in sixteenth place. Belgian U23 champion Niels Albert (Palmans) powered away with De Knegt not too far back halfway through the first lap; Dutchman Al, Kevin Pauwels (Fidea) and youngster Rob Peeters were leading the bunch through the first lap.
Albert, already winner in Loenhout didn’t wait for De Knegt and led the Dutchman with seven seconds while behind him everybody was riding together with Peeters (Baalen) leading the string of riders. By the end of the second lap Albert grabbed the bonus points while De Knegt was 12 seconds down and Peeters took the one point that was left on 25 seconds.
Nys and Erwin Vervecken (Fidea) moved up in the big group of 15 riders with Richard Groenendaal (Rabobank) leading the pack. The Rabobank riders Bart Aernouts, Groenendaal and De Knegt worked together to keep the gap under control but Albert kept the tempo very high and was about forty seconds ahead of the first group.
During the fourth lap Nys took the initiative in pursuit of Albert with only teammates Groenendaal, Aernouts and young Peeters able to keep his wheel coming out of the forest section.
World champion Vervecken brought the rest back up to this group with former U23 world champion Zdenek Stybar (Fidea) in his wheel. Nys pulled back and allowed Aernouts and Groenendaal to go for it on their own at forty seconds of Albert.
Stybar closed the gap again and the battle for second place was open for everyone once more while Albert kept extending his lead up to fifty seconds.
With three laps to go, young ace Albert kept flying around like fighter jet on the small airport. Stybar and Groenendaal attacked the main group with world champion Vervecken and vice world champion Jonathan Page (Morgan Blue) the first behind them. A doubled rider blocked Albert in the sand section but it didn’t stop Albert from maintaining his lead at fifty seconds.
While Albert’s lead grew to a minute, Vervecken, Page, Stybar and Peeters took turns in the big group of thirteen riders in pursuit.
Going into the ultimate lap, Vervecken led Nys, Page and Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb) at 1'11" of leader Albert who wasn’t going that fast anymore, but he was certain to win. Nys pulled through in the forest and easily distanced himself from the group where Vervecken and Page were chasing. While the others still had to fight each other, Albert finished with a big smile on his face. A clearly fresh Nys crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead on Page who outsprinted Vervecken for the ultimate podium spot.
Results
Elite Women 1 Marianne Vos (Ned) 40.43 2 Reza Hormes (Ger) 0.13 3 Loes Sels (Bel) 0.17 4 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 1.00 5 Katrien Pauwels (Bel) 1.07 6 Veerle Ingels (Bel) 1.27 7 Sanne Cant (Bel) 2.18 8 Hilde Quintens (Bel) 2.45 9 Katrien Aerts (Bel) 4.32 10 Katrien Vermeiren (Bel) 6.10 11 Kristien Nelen (Bel) 6.17 12 Katrien Thijs (Bel) 6.20 Elite men and Under 23 1 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 57.33 2 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 0.52 3 Jonathan Page (USA) Morgan Blue 0.59 4 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 5 Zdenek Stubar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 6 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 7 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Projob 8 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 9 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 1.05 10 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 11 Thijs Al (Bel) 12 Dieter Vanthourenhout (U23 Winner) (Bel) 13 Marco Bianco (Ita) 1.22 14 Klaus Ausbuher (Cze) 15 Rob Peeters (Bel) 1.31 16 Wilant Van Gils (Ned) 1.39 17 Eddy Van Ijzendoorn (Bel) 1.48 18 David Willemsens (Bel) 1.55 19 Arne Daelemans (Bel) 20 Ben Berden (Bel) 2.05 21 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) 2.17 22 Tom Meeusen (Bel) 23 Tim Vazn Nuffel (Bel) 24 Peter Dlask (Cze) 2.25 25 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 2.33 26 Wim Jacobs (Bel) 3.20 27 Mike Thielemans (Bel) 3.43 28 Jempi Drucker (Lux) 4.00 29 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 30 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) 31 Maxim Debusschere (Bel) 4.20 32 Sten Raeymakers (Bel) 33 Christophe Delamare (Bel) 34 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) 35 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) 4.25 36 Eddy Van Bouwel (Bel) 37 Sven Van Eyndt (Bel) 4.44 38 Wim Leemans (Bel) 39 Kenny Geluykens (Bel) 40 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 41 Stijn Huys (Bel) 42 Dariusz Gil (Pol) 43 René Van Compernolle (Bel) 44 Tom De Kort (Bel) 45 Gianni Denolf (Bel) 56 Dennis Verhoeven (Bel) 47 Koen de Grootel (Ned) 48 Kevin Cant (Bel) Behind one lap 49 Jeroen Dekkers (Ned) 50 Dries Pauwels (Bel) 51 David Laenen (Bel) 52 Thomas Boeckx (Bel) 53 Guy Bertels (Bel) 54 Ken Smets (Bel) 55 Thomas Clevede (Fra) Sprint Points 1 Niels Albert (Bel) 3 pts 2 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 2 3 Rob Peeters (Bel) 1 Juniors 1 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) 37.25 2 Joeri Adams (Bel) 0.09 3 Kristof Cop (Bel) 4 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) 5 Stef Boden (Bel) 0.48 6 Twan Van den Brand (Ned) 0.56 7 Zeb Willems (Bel) 1.23 8 Bert Hemans (Bel) 1.29 9 Kevin Eeckhout (Bel) 1.32 10 Rob Van de Velde (Ned) 2.18 11 Bart Barkhuis (Ned) 12 Pieter-Jan Pirotte (Bel) 13 Jens Gys (Bel) 14 Dimitri Stevens (Bel) 15 Sven Beelen (Bel) 16 Kristof Scheirs (Bel) 17 Kevin Smit (Ned) 2.35 18 Dries Ingels (Bel) 2.30 19 Michiel Dieleman (Bel) 2.35 20 Bert Vermeiren (Bel) 2.39 21 Vincent Meyvis (Bel) 3.03 22 Kenny Maes (Bel) 3.13 23 Yannick Pauwels (Bel) 24 Jarno Van de Casteele (Bel) 25 Kenneth Bultynck (Bel) 4.17 26 Vincent Van Hooste (Bel) 27 Thomas Gysbrechts (Bel) 28 Steve Deloof (Bel) 29 Kim Goethals (Bel) 30 Dries Vannevel (Bel) 31 Sam Van Hemelen (Bel) 32 Ben Remijsen (Bel) 33 Ibe Vandendriessche (Bel) 34 Giel Bruyneel (Bel) 35 Dimi Diels (Bel) 36 Jelle Wallays (Bel) 37 Sylvester Sioen 38 Luigi Vannieuwenhuyze (Bel) 39 Kevin Verstaen (Bel) 40 Japser Impe (Bel) 41 Ruben Doornaert (Bel) 42 Jeroen Lepla (Bel) 43 Ben Suykens (Bel) 44 Arne Verstraete (Bel) 45 Klaas Verschaeve (Bel) 46 Joachim Janssens (Bel) 47 Steven Vandeputte (Bel) 48 Mathias Wieland (Bel) Amateurs and Masters A 1 Wim Janssen (Bel) 38.13 2 Koen Diels (Bel) 3 Sven Raeymakers (Bel) 4 Benny Van Staeyen (Bel) 5 Nico Schroyen (Bel) 6 René Snoeren (Ned) 7 Timmy Maes (Bel) 8 Tim Goris (Bel) 9 Lino Colombo (Bel) 10 Jos Van Looy (Bel) 11 Jelle Vets (Bel) 12 Erik Van Laar (Ned) 13 Jan Van Look (Bel) 14 Gijs Jongeling (Ned) 15 Wim De Witte (Bel) 16 Kristof Vanderheyden (Bel) 17 Jurgen Van Wambeke (Bel) 18 Bart Langmans (Bel) 19 Bart Durbin (Bel) 20 Kurt Cnudde (Bel) Masters B 1 Dirk Mertens (Bel) 39.15 2 Hans Wuyts (Bel) 3 Danny Verherstraeten (Bel) 4 Jef Verbraeken (Bel) 5 Marc Druyts (Bel) 6 Walter Marynissen (Bel) 7 Mark Verloo (Bel) 8 Frans Willems (Bel) 9 Eric Gys (Bel) 10 Michel Willems (Bel) 11 Jeroen Van Ham (Ned) 12 Rudy Bloemmen (Bel) 13 Ronny Lambrechtgs (Bel) 14 Dirk Dekeerle (Bel) 15 Ludwig Gladines (Bel) 16 Alfons Schutters (Bel) 17 Eric Van Steerteghem (Bel) 18 Patrick Goor (Bel) 19 Udo Janssen (Ned) 20 Gerard Lambinon (Bel) Masters C 1 José De Clercq (Bel) 42.00 2 François Mertens (Bel) 3 Ludo Van Tichelt (Bel) 4 Daniel Van Oosterwijck (Bel) 5 Jos Sas (Bel) 6 Albert Huysmans (Bel) 7 Jan Geudens (Bel) 8 Luc Van Wesenbeeck (Bel) 9 Etienne Van de Velde (Bel) 10 Leo De Busser (Bel) 11 Dirk Van Sinay (Bel) 12 André Clemmen (Bel) 13 Alex Spruyt (Bel) 14 Johan Govaerts (Bel) 15 Jackie De Meester (Bel) 16 Wilfried Buysse (Bel) 17 Marcel Geerts (Bel) 18 Albert Bertels (Bel) Beginners 1 Tijmen Eising (Ned) 27.12 2 Robin De Cnodder (Bel) 0.12 3 Daan Meijers (Ned) 4 Bart De Vocht (Bel) 5 Hendrik Sweeck (Bel) 0.18 6 Sieën Veestraeten (Bel) 0.22 7 Zeb Veestraeten (Bel) 0.28 8 Maxim Danckers (Bel) 0.34 9 Niels Koyen (Bel) 0.36 10 Zico Waeytens (Bel) 0.43 11 Valentijn Van de Velde (Bel) 0.53 12 Niels Wytinck (Bel) 1.03 13 Wietse Bosmans (Bel) 14 Robin Wennekes (Ned) 1.11 15 Dieter Eyskens (Bel) 16 Raf Risbourg (Bel) 1.24 17 Tim Wellens (Bel) 18 Frederik Geerts (Bel) 19 Renzo Van Ree (Ned) 20 Ruben Scheire (Bel) 21 Cornz Van Kessel (Ned) 22 Jens Adams (Bel) 23 Senne Lemmens (Bel) 24 Ritchie Denolf (Bel) 25 Thijs Van Aert (Bel) 26 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) 27 Niels Meeusen (Bel) 28 Simon Declercq (Bel) 29 Jens Joosen (Bel) 30 Sonny Volders (Bel) 31 Robin Poelvoorde (Bel) 32 James Laureys (Bel) 33 Jorne Carolus (Bel) 34 Jelle Storms (Bel) 35 Simon Lapeire (Bel) 36 Jelle Goderis (Bel) 37 Anthony Tavierne (Bel) 38 Sion Vanhommerig (Ned) 39 Elias Hoop (Bel) 40 Jordan Aerts (Bel) 41 Jordy Van Staeyen (Bel) 42 Ief Faes (Bel) 43 Jens Van den Bosch (Bel) 44 Marijn Thijs (Bel) 45 Matthias Siracusa (Bel) 46 Rutger La Haye (Bel) 47 Martijn Pastoors (Ned) 48 Jan Van Meirvenne (Bel) 49 Berten De Meyer (Bel) 50 Tim Vansieleghem (Bel) 51 Aloïs Mus (Bel) 52 Niels Buyck (Bel) 53 Jeffrey Mellemans (Bel) 54 Nick Van Dijke (Ned) 55 Koen Van de Put (Bel) 56 Michiel Andries (Bel) 57 Mike Mutsaerts (Bel) 58 Jochen Deweer (Bel) 59 Niels Demeyer (Bel) 60 Dimitri Michielsen (Bel) 61 Geert Kuit (Ned) 62 Simon Oeyen (Bel) 63 Jens Saey (Bel) 64 Jens Vanderveken (Bel) 65 Stijn Lapiere (Bel) 66 Dylan Teuns (Bel) 67 Robin Delanghe (Bel) 68 Brecht Cassaert (Bel) 69 Kevin Damen (Bel) 70 Mathias Couckuyt (Bel) 71 Sven Demeyere (Bel) 72 Sam Van Mieroop (Bel) 73 Matthieu Lerminez (Bel) 74 Ken Ansloos (Bel) 75 Hannes Vanhee (Bel) 76 Sander Vanneste (Bel) 77 Jeroen Popelier (Bel) 78 Michael Smts (Bel) 79 Jonathan Breyne (Bel) 80 Joshua Omez (Bel) 81 Jonas Van Dorpe (Bel) 82 Gijs Schefferlie (Ned) 83 Kris Vermeire (Bel) 84 Raf Van Gestel (Bel) Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee Veldrijden final standings Elite Men GVA Trofee (after 8 events) 1 Sven Nys (Bel) 273 pts 2 Niels Albert (Bel) 238 3 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 220 4 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 210 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 195 6 Bart Wellens (Bel) 184 7 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) 181 8 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 181 9 Bart Aernouts (Bel) 142 10 Wilant van Gils (Ned) 135 11 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) 130 12 David Willemsens (Bel) 128 13 Thijs Al (Ned) 127 14 Peter Dlask (Cze) 112 15 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) 105 16 Arne Daelmans (Bel) 103 17 Maxime Lefèbve (Fra) 85 18 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) 66 19 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 64 20 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) 58 21 Radomir Simunek (Cze) 56 22 Maarten Nijland (Ned) 55 23 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 55 24 Jan Soetens (Bel) 54 25 Lars Boom (Ned) 46 26 Davy Commeyne (Bel) 44 27 Wim Jacobs (Bel) 36 28 John Gadret (Fra) 31 29 Jonathan Page (USA) 29 30 Nico Berckmans (Bel) 26 31 Ben Berden (Bel) 22 32 Marco Bianco (Ita) 22 33 Simo Zahner (Swi) 19 34 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 18 35 Isaac Suarez (Spa) 17 36 John Van der Veken (Bel) 17 37 Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 13 38 Stijn Penne (Bel) 12 39 Camiel van den Bergh (Ned) 12 40 Ryan Trebon (USA) 12 41 Marek Cichosz (Pol) 10 42 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 10 43 Florian Vogel (Swi) 9 44 David Meys (Bel) 8 45 Jimmy Tielens (Bel) 8 46 Davy Coenen (Bel) 7 47 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 6 48 Paul Voss (Ger) 5 49 Roel van Houtum (Ned) 4 50 Gerry Weckx (Bel) 4 51 Tom De Kort (Bel) 4 52 Mike Thielemans (Bel) 4 53 Geert Wellens (Bel) 3 54 Jeremy Powers (USA) 3 55 Christophe Roothooft (Bel) 3 56 Sten Raeuymakers (Bel) 3 57 Francis Mourey (Fra) 2 58 Geert Van Crombruggen (Bel) 2 59 Michael Müller (Swi) 1 Sprint Points Classification 1 Sven Nys (Bel) 11 pts 2 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) 10 2 Niels Albert (Bel) 10 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) 8 5 Rob Peeters (Bel) 7 6 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 6 6 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 6 8 John Gadret (Fra) 2 8 Ondrej Bambula (Cze) 2 8 Kenny Geluykens (Bel) 2 8 Lars Boom (Bel) 2 12 Bart Aernouts (Bel) 1 12 Lukas Kloucek (Cze) 1 12 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) 1 12 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 1 12 Yves Corminboeuf (Fra) 1 12 Rafael Visinelli (Ita) 1 Under 23 GVA Trofee (after 8 events) 1 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) 161 pts 2 Rob Peeters (Bel) 155 3 Kenny Geluykens (Bel) 80 4 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) 62 5 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) 60 6 Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) 53 7 Jempy Drucker (Bel) 47 8 Maxime De Busschere (Bel) 36 9 Bart Verschueren (Bel) 33 10 Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) 25 11 Stijn Huys (Bel) 25 12 Ondrej Bambula (Cze) 24 13 Tom Meeusen (Bel) 24 14 Dries Govaerts (Bel) 22 15 Lukas Kou cek (Cze) 20 16 Rafael Visinelli (Ita) 20 17 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 19 18 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) 19 19 Clément L’Hotellerie (Fra) 17 20 Uvens Corminboeuf (Swi) 17 21 Boy van Poppel (Ned) 14 22 Kay Van den Brande 13 23 Frantisek Kloucek (Cze) 12 24 Kenneth Van Compernollen 12 25 Rik van Ijzendoorn (Ned) 11 26 Frank Sikking (Ned) 10 27 Jan Van Dael (Bel) 10 28 Jo Pirotte (Bel) 9 29 Ricardo van der Velde (Ned) 9 30 Gianni Denolf (Bel) 9 31 Jan Arnouts (Bel) 8 32 Thomas Vernaec (Bel) 7 33 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) 7 34 Davide Malacarne (Ita) 7 35 Daan de Jonge (Ned) 6 36 Kristof Luyten (Bel) 6 37 Kevin Cant (Bel) 6 38 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) 5 39 Wim Leemans (Bel) 5 40 Hans Becking (Ned) 4 41 Dennis Verhoeven (Bel) 4 42 Davy De Scheemaekers (Bel) 4 43 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) 3 44 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) 3 45 Dawid Romanowki (Pol) 2 46 Pieter Reekmans (Bel) 2 47 Ian Bib by (GB) 2 48 David Bertram (Bel) 1 49 Juien Taramarcaz (Swi) 1
Past winners
2006 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 2005 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 2004 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 2003 Ben Berden (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 2002 Arne Daelmans (Bel) Vlaanderen-T-Interim 2001 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select 2000 Arne Daelmans (Bel) 1999 Sven Nys (Bel) 1998 Arne Daelmans (Bel) 1997 Paul Herijgers (Bel) 1996 Paul Herijgers (Bel)
