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Superprestige Cyclo-cross Hamme-Zogge - C1
Hamme-Zogge, Belgium, November 23, 2008
2007 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Races
Never mind the Bollekes!
By Laura Weislo
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The fourth round of the Nissan Superprestige Topsport Vlaanderen Trofee, affectionately known as the Superprestige, heads east to Hamme-Zogge – a small town midway between Gent and Antwerp, for the seventh edition of the 'Bollekescross'. Named after the chalice-like glass in which the tasty regional beers are served, the name conjures up 'crosses of old where racers plowed through the center of beer tents filled with passionate and boisterous fans.
Sadly, or perhaps not so sadly for the racers, those days are over since the UCI banned courses through beer tents several years ago, but that doesn't mean the beer no longer flows or that the race is less like one big, happy party. The crowd will enjoy watching the racers tackle a tightly wound course over a relatively small area with two flyover bridges, a couple of short run-ups, a sand pit and a dizzying series of twists and turns.
Sven Nys comes into this fourth race as the series leader by four points over Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb Projob) after a close contest in Asper-Gavere last weekend. Skill, bollekes of steel and a bit of luck gave Nys the victory over Bart Wellens in that contest, while the ever consistent Vantornout came in third.
The young star Niels Albert, who came into last week's race as co-leader of the series, had the misfortune of crashing in the warm-up in Gavere and becoming gravely injured with a ruptured spleen. That one slip cost him any chance at challenging for the series as he will be out the better part of a month. Luckily, Albert's youth and enormous talent will mean he has many seasons to come in which to fight for victories.
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One of the other riders who has given the Belgian champ a run for his sizeable start money, Lars Boom, will also be absent in this week's contest. Boom's team manager announced Thursday that the Dutch rider had developed a unrinary tract infection and has a fever. It is not known when he will be able to resume training.
A course like the one in Hamme-Zogge favours experience and cunning over youth and exuberance, even though it might look a little bit like a playground with all the artificial barriers. Nys has been the bully in this playground for the past three years, showing that he has a well-rounded quiver of weapons: running ability on the stairs, bike handling in the sand and the willingness to take well-calculated risks which translates so often into victory.
The only area where Nys may be lacking as he gets on in years is power on the long straightaways where the larger teams like Fidea can use tactics to foil him. Luckily for him, the straightaways in Hamme-Zogge come at the start of each lap, and are followed by a long series of technical sections where he can excel.
The man lurking in the shadows is Wellens, who finally found his way in contention for a win in Gavere only to have a snapped derailleur cable and then a big wad of mud in his eye foil his chances. He's been moving steadily up the rankings in November, and will use the morale boost he received with that solid performance last week to try and finally step onto the top of the podium this season.
Start list
Elite Men 1Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank2 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 3 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 5 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 6 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 7 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 8 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 9 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 10 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 11 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans - Cras 12 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Cycling Team 13 Radomir Simunek (Bel) Palmans - Cras 14 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Prodoli Racing Team 15 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 16 Ben Berden (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 17 Thijs Al (Ned) Be-One Team 18 Wilant van Gils (Ned) Pro Cycling Team ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida 19 Thijs Van Amerongen 20 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 21 Petr Dlask (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 22 Jempy Drucker (Lux) Fidea Cycling Team 23 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 24 Wesley Van der Linden (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 25 Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) Lingier Versluys Beachbikers Team VZW 26 Jan Soetens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 27 Tom Vandenbosch 28 David Willemsens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 29 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans - Cras 30 Bart Verschueren (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 31 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 32 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens Racing Team 33 Geert Wellens (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 34 Kendric Van Grembergen 35 Steven Decaluwe 36 Dries Cauwelier 37 Steven De Shoesitter 38 Gerald Uytersprot 39 Freddy De Meester (Bel) Rijschool AH - Gentse VS 40 Koen Diels 41 Rene Mertens 42 Peter Goeman U23 2 Philipp Walsleben (Bel) Palmans - Cras 3 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4 Stef Boden 5 Jan Van Dael (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Rabobank 7 Vincent Bastaens 8 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 9 Arnaud Jouffroy 10 Luká Kloucek (Cze) Sunweb - Projob Cycling Team 11 Petrus Lubomir 12 Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum 13 Michaël Winterberg 14 Nico Brüngger (Swi) 15 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 16 Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank 17 Marcel Meisen (Ger) 18 Geert Van Der Horst 19 Mitchell Heunders 20 Jelle Brackman (Bel) Granville-Morgan Blue Cycling Team 21 Laurent Moulin 22 Jan Denuwelaere 23 Lorenzo Messine 24 Tom Desmet (Bel) Asfra Racing Team 25 Jean-Baptiste Taleux 26 Marco Minnaard 27 Robert Gavenda (Svk) Fidea Cycling Team 28 Ivar Hartoghs 29 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Palmans - Cras 30 Dennis Verhoeven 31 Bart Barkhuis 32 Kaj Slenter 33 Joachim Janssens 34 Stijn Mortelmans 35 Thomas Vernaeckt 36 Jan Van Zeebroeck 37 Kristof Cop (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 38 Vincent Van Hooste (Bel) Asfra Racing Team 39 Matthias Onghena 40 Jens Gys 41 Sven Beelen (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 42 Micki Van Empel 43 Michiel Dieleman 44 Sven Beelen (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 45 Bart Hermans (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 46 Kevin Smit 47 Christophe Delvaux 48 Patrick Van Nunen 49 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 50 Dries Dewit (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 51 Robby Cobbaert (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 52 Maurits Lammertink 53 Kristof Zegers 54 Davy De Scheemaeker 55 Sven Verboven (Bel) Palmans - Cras 56 Bart Bruyndonckx 57 Laurens De Vreese 58 Zeb Willems (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 59 Mark Thwaites 60 Kenneth Speltincx (Bel) Afdeling Antwerpen - WbV 61 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans - Cras 62 Dimitri Stevens 63 Twan Van Den Brand 64 Arnaud Vandenabeele 65 Simon Geets Juniors 2 Eising Tijmen 3 Kenny Goossens 4 Lise Müller (Swi) 5 Joël Peter 6 Milan Van Den Ende 7 Mathias Vincke 8 Zeb Veestraeten 9 Daan Meijers 10 Jens Joosen 11 Mike Teunissen 12 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck 13 Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank 14 Angelo De Clercq 15 Kevin Peeters (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 16 Dieter Peeters 17 Lars Van Der Haar 18 Niels Koyen 19 Kenny Bultynck 20 Wilco Van Beusekom 21 Olivier Vandevijver 22 Michiel Van Der Heyden 23 Joery Rietveld 24 Thomas Verbeek 25 Xandro Meurisse 26 Wietse Bosmans 27 Jesper Baelen 28 Sieën Veestraeten 29 Jens Saey 30 Jelle Lugten 31 Wim Allary 32 Sean De Bie 33 Rutger La Haye 34 Sandie Verriest 35 Niels Wijtinck 36 Kenzie Boutte 37 Frederik Geerts 38 Simon Lapeire 39 Matthias Bossuyt 40 Wannes Cauwenbergh 41 Thibeaut De Winter 42 Bas Krauwel 43 Yoeri Bertels 44 Jeroen Popelier 45 Michiel Van Tilborg 46 Bart Carlier 47 Giovanni Jacobs 48 David Nichols 49 Olivier Vernaet 50 Gert-Jan Opsomer 51 Robin Poelvoorde 52 Nancy Bober 53 Valentijn Van De Velde 54 Kris Vermeir 55 Ruben Scheire 56 Ritchie Denolf 57 Kenneth Goossens 58 Gert-Jan Bosmans 59 Jonas Plasschaert
Past winners
2007 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 2006 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 2005 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank 2004 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Quickstep - Davitamon 2003 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 2002 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
