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De Vlaams Brabant Classic Zemst Laar - 1.1 (Jr)
Belgium, September 15, 2007
2006 Results Results Past winners
Debusschere finds his way around
By John Ceulers
Belgian Champion Jens Debusschere won the De Vlaams Brabant Classic on almost identical roads where he took the national honours in May. He beat his three breakaway companions in a thrilling sprint in the streets of Zemst.
The first major break developed after 40 kilometres, when 22 riders got clear and had a maximum lead of 1'20". After 70 kilometres it was another ten riders who left the peloton, including Debusschere. At kilometre 90 the gap from this group to the front was down to 35 seconds, while the peloton pointed at 1'35"
Dutchman Peter Koning tried to go for a solo win out of the front group, but could only resist the charging 21 riders for about ten kilometres. Four kilometres later the two groups combined to form an unruly 32-man strong group. The 700 metres of pavé spelled the end for some of the riders in the break, who couldn't follow the high pace anymore.
Ten kilometres from the finish Debusschere attacked and drew three riders with him. They were only ahead by ten to 15 seconds over a chase group of 16. The riders in the front group attacked each other relentlessly, but even the cobblestones, with less than three kilometres to go, could not make a difference. Debusschere won the sprint ahead of Steven Van der Aerschot and Maurice De Bekker. Debusschere took a nice price home in form of a brandnew Eddy Merckx bike.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Ceulers
- The podium with winner Debusschere in the middle, Van der Aerschot on the left and De Bekker in the right.
Results - 114.8km
1 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Kon. Balen BC 2.35.06 (44.410 km/h) 2 Steven Van Der Aerschot (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 3 Maurice De Bekker (Ned) WV Schijndel 4 Niek Van Geffen (Ned) WV Schijndel 0.05 5 Mathias Allegaert (Bel) Kon. Balen BC 0.14 6 Laurens Coucke (Bel) Hoop op Zege Beveren 0.16 7 Stefan Vreugdenhil (Ned) Westland Wil 8 Nick Nieuwdorp (Ned) Theo Middelkamp 9 Thomas Chamon (Bel) Kon. Balen BC 10 Joshua Soberon (Bel) Thompson Cycling 11 Steven Dillen (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 12 Niels Vandyck (Bel) Thompson Cycling 13 Yorick Van Horik (Ned) Het Snelle 14 Stijn Van Halle (Bel) Daikin CT 15 Bob Stopler (Ned) District Midden 16 Pierre Weimerskirch (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 17 Laurent Vanden Bak (Bel) AVIA Cycling 18 Hendrik Van Den Bossche (Bel) Kon. Balen BC 19 Jorg Pannekoek (Bel) AVIA Cycling 20 Stef Wijnants (Bel) WSC Hand in Hand Baal 0.20 21 Thomas Vanhaecke (Bel) Kon. Balen BC 1.26 22 Peter Koning (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 2.10 23 Alex Gresnigt (Ned) Theo Middelkamp 2.57 24 Niels Massie (Bel) Daikin CT 25 Joris De Boer (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 26 Jasse Tanghe (Bel) CT Oost-West 27 Matthijs Casteels (Bel) Demerspurters Haacht-Betekom 28 Pit Schlechter (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 29 Dieter Van De Vyver (Bel) Thompson Cycling 30 Sjoerd Kouwenhoven (Ned) Westland Wil Vooruit 31 Christophe Willems (Bel) CT Oost-West 32 Kevin De Smet (Bel) CT Oost-West 33 Arne Van Hee (Bel) WAC Team Hoboken 3.03 34 Geert Vanderweijst (Ned) Het Snelle Wiel Bladel 3.07 35 Michael Claes (Bel) Daikin CT 36 Sven Vertommen (Bel) Dijlespurters Mechelen 37 Ferdinand Boogaard (Ned) Theo Middelkamp 3.12 38 Tange Hansen Simon (Bel) Denmark (DEN) 3.18 39 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) District Limburg 40 Ritchie Motke (Ned) District Limburg 3.21 41 Jonas Buysse (Bel) Josan Mercedes 42 Kenneth De Kerf (Bel) Royal Cureghem Sportief 43 Melvin Jekautz (Ned) Het Snelle Wiel Bladel 44 Tom Thill (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 45 Sonny Lardinoije (Ned) District Limburg 46 Tim Schmitz (Ned) District Limburg 47 Pit Losch (Lux)Luxembourg National Team 48 Willy Heeneman (Ned) Westland Wil Vooruit 49 Jetse Bol (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 50 Kim Hindrijckx (Bel) Royal Cureghem Sportief 51 David Van Eerd (Ned) Breda Zuidwest Vlaanderen 52 Tom Verhulst (Bel) Hoop op Zege Beveren 53 Anders Eltzholtz (Bel) Denmark (DEN) 54 Erik Bierens (Ned) Het Snelle Wiel Bladel 55 Bart Govaert (Bel) WSC Hand 56 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Daikin CT 57 Dries Vandenbergen (Bel) Royal Cureghem Sportief 58 Stijn Rammant (Bel) AVIA Cycling Team 59 Dave Lens (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 60 Sandro Harings (Ned) District Limburg 61 Jos Stalmans (Bel) Dijlespurters Mechelen 62 Fen Lasseel (Bel) WSC Hand in Hand Baal 63 Jasper Vansieleghem (Bel) AVIA Cycling 64 Ibe Vandendriessche (Bel) Deerlijk Gaverzicht 65 Jens Brauwers (Bel) Noord West Brabant 66 Pieter Colette (Bel) Josan Mercedes CT 67 Johan Kindts (Bel) Daikin CT 68 Chip Van Der Schoot (Ned) WV Schijndel 69 Karel Van Osselaer (Bel) WAC Team Hoboken 70 Tanguy Peeters (Bel) Demerspurters Haacht-Betekom 71 Nick De Block (Bel) Thompson Cycling 72 Mauro De Smedt (Bel) Thompson Cycling 73 Gert-Jan Onkelinx (Bel) Daikin CT 74 Jef Roelen (Bel) WAC Team Hoboken 75 Carlo Van Droogenbroeck (Bel) La Bicycletta 76 Jeremy Heyndrickx (Bel) Josan Mercedes CT 77 Rutger Andries (Bel) Dijlespurters Mechelen 78 Kristof Goolaerts (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 79 Jelle Van Riet (Bel) Noord West Brabant 80 Anthony Slabinck (Bel) CT Oost-West 81 Kenneth Bultynck (Bel) AVIA Cycling 82 Job Sinnige (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 83 Frank Post (Ned) Westland Wil Vooruit 84 Greg Faes (Bel) Deerlijk Gaverzicht 85 Kenny Buellens (Bel) Dijlespurters Mechelen 86 Rob Fleerakkers (Ned) Het Snelle Wiel Bladel 87 Jens Verschaffelt (Bel) Hoop op Zege Beveren 88 Claude Hermes (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 89 Dries Aerts (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 90 Bram Markey (Bel) WSC Hand in Hand Baal 91 Jeroen Juwet (Bel) Royal Cureghem Sportief 92 Andy De Herdt (Bel) WSC Hand in Hand Baal 3.33 93 Kevin Van Den Cruyse (Bel) Josan Mercedes CT 3.36 94 Filip Verstraeten (Bel) WAC Team Hoboken 95 Jake Griffin (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 96 Sven Smets (Bel) Dijlespurters Mechelen 97 Stefan Haes (Bel) WAC Team Hoboken 98 Tim De Pelsmaker (Bel) Deerlijk Gaverzicht 99 Bart Bruyndonckx (Bel) AVIA Cycling 100 Roy Pieters (Ned) Sinnigebouw WT 101 Kevin Vanderpoorten (Bel) Noord West Brabant 102 Jeffrey Van Den Bulck (Bel) Heist Zuiderkempen 103 Pim Groenewegen (Ned) Westland Wil Vooruit 3.58 104 Joris Haers (Bel) Thompson Cycling Team 4.10 105 Lawrence Vandermeersch (Bel) Hoop op Zege Beveren 4.18 106 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Theo Middelkamp 4.29 107 Kevin Verstaen (Bel) Deerlijk Gaverzicht 4.47 Teams 1 Kon. Balen BC 7.45.48 2 WV Schijndel 2.56 3 Thompson Cycling Team 2.59 4 Heist Zuiderkempen 3.07 5 AVIA Cycling Team 3.23 6 Daikin CT 5.50 7 Theo Middelkamp 5.55 8 Westland Wil Vooruit 6.04 9 Luxembourg National Team 10 Het Snelle Wiel Bladel 6.14 11 Hoop op Zege Beveren 6.28 12 WSC Hand in Hand Baal 6.32 13 Sinnigebouw WT 7.58 14 CT Oost-West 8.21 15 WAC Team Hoboken 9.15 16 Dijlespurters Mechelen 9.19 17 District Limburg 9.30 18 Royal Cureghem Sportief 9.33 19 Josan Mercedes CT 20 Noord West Brabant 9.48 21 Deerlijk Gaverzicht 22 Demerspurters Haacht-Betekom 23 Denmark National Team 24 District Midden Nederland 25 Breda Zuidwest Vlaanderen 26 La Bicycletta
Past winners
2006 Dieter Verbeek (Bel) Kon. Balen B.C. V.Z.W.
