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Jaarmarktcross Niel (GvA Trofee #2) - C2
Belgium, November 11, 2008
2007 Results Results Past winners
Boom destroys Belgian opposition
By Brecht Decaluwé
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Last year Lars Boom was kept from the victory in Niel due to a flat tyre in the last lap, but this year he didn't allow bad luck to spoil his party. The world champion destroyed the gathered opposition and becomes the new leader in the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy after two races.
Dutchman Boom quickly got away with Belgians Sven Nys and Niels Albert during the first lap. The three best riders of the moment worked hard on their bikes, trying hard to plow their way through the thick mud. The gap with the rest of the starters in Niel was huge, and many riders were spotted struggling in the muddy trenches.
The three leaders hit the intermediate sprint looking equally strong, but Nys didn't contest the sprint which was won by Boom ahead of Albert. It turned out to be the portent of what was going to happen at the finish. Boom excelled in the slow sections in the muddy meadows and on top of the slippery dyke next to the Rupel river, and opened up a solid lead on his two companions.
"I didn't attack. I rode a good tempo of which I knew that I could maintain it," Boom explained after the race. Clearly that tempo was too high for Belgian champion Nys who dropped back during the third out of seven laps. "The third position was were I belonged, and after two laps I choose to ride at my tempo," Nys said.
While the Belgian tricolore jersey was out of the picture there was still one rider offering resistance against Boom. Albert trailed by a little more than ten seconds behind Boom, but the young Belgian remained at that distance for about three laps. Albert put in a stubborn fight, but it was a losing battle against the world champion. Boom seemed to float with ease over the technical obstacles along the course, while Albert was working much harder to move forward whilst struggling on the hills and bridges.
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After the race young Albert explained that he should have come back to Boom during the fourth lap. "I came close, but then I didn't make it up to that damned bridge that shouldn't have been there anyway," Albert said about the artificial obstacle that, according to the rider, kept him from coming back to Boom. "It's not my course anyway. I'm not the kind of rider who likes simple straight-on plowing," Albert said.
When Albert cracked, Boom extended his lead up to half a minute and at the finish the world champion had a lead of 45 seconds. "This win was rather easy," Boom said. "I was riding smoothly and once I had fifteen seconds I knew that I could keep that gap without a problem. During the last three laps I rode a little harder on the road towards the finish line to extend my lead," Boom said.
Behind the top-three, Bart Wellens was the first to crawl out of the mud bath. The Belgian explained that he wasn't feeling as good as on Sunday in Pijnacker where race conditions - and the top-five - was similar to those in Niel. "I lacked power and struggled with my stomach. For half a lap I tried to come back to Nys but that wasn't possible. I'm as good as I can be but those three guys are simply too good for the rest of us," Wellens said.
Boom now leads the overall classification of the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy with 74 points, which is six more than Belgian champion Nys and ten more than today's runner-up Niels Albert. Bart Wellens might be described as the best of the rest as he is already trailing Boom by twenty points. The next race in the GvA-trophy is held in Hasselt on November 22.
Photography
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Images by Cyclingnews
- World Champion Lars Boom on the way to the win in the muddy conditions in Niel.
- Lars Boom focuses on the victory as he plows through the muck in Niel.
- Lars Boom (Rabobank) wins a muddy race in Niel.
- Niels Albert (Palmans-Cras) waves to the fans after taking second.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) ingests a bit of Belgian soil on his way to third place.
- Sven Nys leads the chase group.
- The elite men's podium: Niels Albert (Palmans), Lars Boom (Rabobank) and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet)
- The elite men's podium: Niels Albert (Palmans), Lars Boom (Rabobank) and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet)
- Davy Commeyne (Revor) does it tough as he battles to 21st place
- Radomir Simunek (Palmans) finished well down the standings, in 22nd.
- Sven Nys ride alone and tries to find the least mud to contend with.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) on his way to third place.
- Bart Wellens (Fidea) struggles with the mud in Niel.
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb) runs through the mud which was a simpler option than riding it.
- Bart Aernouts (Rabobank) did a great job for Rabobank, finishing in sixth
- With the same name as that of the race's location, Niels Albert proved that he's a man to watch with second place.
- Jan Verstraeten (Sunweb Projob) finished the day in 15th.
- Zdenek Stybar (Fidea) and Dieter Vanthourenhout (Palmans) battle it out lower down the field.
- Dieter Vanthourenhout (Palmans) had a less successful day than his cousin, Sven
- Niels Albert (Palmans) has been iun great form recently and continued that with a second in Niels.
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb) gets balanced on a descent.
- Gerben de Knegt (Rabobank) took it steady as he rode to a top-ten position.
- Zdenek Stybar (Fidea) has had a quiet start to his season, and took 13th in Niels.
- World champion and victor in Niels, Lars Boom, looked good.
- Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) rides hard in pursuit of the win in Niels.
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb) cleans himself after the finish in Niels.
Results
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 1.01.06 2 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans - Cras 0.37 3 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 1.04 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 1.48 5 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 2.47 6 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 3.17 7 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 3.52 8 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Drink - Be One 9 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 4.30 10 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4.51 11 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink - BeOne 5.25 12 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans - Cras 13 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 14 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) Rendementhypo Cycling Team 15 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 6.08 16 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Van Vliet EBH Elshof 17 Jan Soetens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 6.16 18 David Willemsens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 6.24 19 Nico Berckmans (Bel) DCM-GB Vorselaar Cycling Team 20 Ben Berden (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 6.48 21 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 6.59 22 Radomir Simunek (Bel) Palmans - Cras 7.39 23 Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 24 Crespo Vazquez (Spa) 25 Mariusz Gil (Pol) VC Lievespurters 26 Marco Bianco (Ita) L´Arcobaleno Carraro Team 27 Magnus Darvell (Swe) Rietumu Bank-Riga 28 Carlos Hernandez Garcia (Spa) 29 Steven De Schoesitter (Bel) Rudyco Cycling Team 30 Andre Sutton (Can) 31 Bragando De La Fuente (Spa) U 23 1 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 55.40 2 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.35 3 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Palmans - Cras 1.10 4 Stef Boden (Bel) AA Drink - BeOne 1.32 5 Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) Vendée U Pays de la Loire 1.55 6 Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank 2.05 7 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 2.50 8 Kevin Cant (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 3.13 9 Sven Verboven (Bel) Palmans - Cras 10 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 11 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans - Cras 12 Philipp Walsleben (Bel) Palmans - Cras 13 Daniel Summerhill (USA) 14 Lukás Kloucek (Cze) Sunweb - Projob Cycling Team 15 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Adinkerkse 16 Dries Dewit (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 17 Wim Leemans (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 18 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) AA Drink - BeOne 19 Matthias Nilson (Swe) 20 Kristof Cop (Bel) AVB-USSspa Cycling Team Kasterlee 21 Robby Cobbaert (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 22 Sven Beelen (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 23 Dany Lacroix (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 24 Robert Gavenda (Svk) Fidea Cycling Team 25 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 27 Mauro Gonzalez (Spa) 28 Bjorn Selander (USA) Ridley Factory Team 29 Simon Geets (Bel) Cycling Team Crabbe-Performance Gorsem 30 Laurent Moulin (Bel) Bury 31 Bart Hermans (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team 32 Tom Desmet (Bel) Asfra Racing Team 33 Rudy Kowalski (Fra) 34 Kenneth Speltincx (Bel) Afdeling Antwerpen - WbV 35 Ricardo Robben (Ned) 36 Joachim Janssens (Bel) WK Noord West Brabant 37 Christophe Delvaux (Bel) Koninklijke Hoboken W.A.C. V.Z.W. 38 Dimi Diels (Bel) Kempens Wielerverbond- Turnhout V.Z.W. 39 Jan Van Dael (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 40 Kevin Eeckhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team
Past winners
2007 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 2006 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
