by Bart Hazen of The Daily Peloton
The sixth round of the Superprestige under the flood lights in Diegem was won by the champion of the Czech Republic Zdenek Stybar (Fidea Cycling Team). Stybar attacked early in the race and held off a chasing group of three riders for his first win of the season, with Vantornout and Nys completing the podium. The winner of the World Cup in Zolder Thijs Al finished as fourth. At 39 seconds Bart Wellens was best of the rest in fifth.
On the fast frozen course in Diegem, near Brussels, the winner of the Zolder World Cup Thijs Al got the holeshot as usual but it was Zdenek Stybar who made the first attack.
Stybar isn’t a threat for Nys, Vantornout and Wellens for the Superprestige ranking and they didn’t react immediately on his move. After Nys stopped pulling in the chasing group the gap went up to over twenty seconds.
Despite a flat tire in the final laps the gap of Stybar on his rivals was enough to win his first race of the season. In the battle for the second place it was a tight fight between Sven Nys, Klaas Vantornout, Thijs Al and Sven Vanthourenhout.
Vanthourenhout punctured and would finish sixth behind Bart Wellens. In front, Sven Nys attacked splitting the chase group. In a final effort to bridge across to Stybar, the Belgian Champion slipped and Vantornout and Al rejoined. In the sprint Vantornout took second ahead of Nys and Al.
A remarkable name at the start was American Jonathan Page. While awaiting the verdict on his missed doping control test at the Koksijde World Cup, the former American Champion raced for the first time after his national championships in Kansas City two weeks ago. Page finished 28th at 4.04 of Stybar after being caught behind Aernouts who hit a spectator. Page himself went down spectacularly (video of the crash can be found here) but would go on to race, and pleased the crowd as he rode an entire long sand section on his bike a few times, something only Nys and he were able to do.
The best American of the day was Troy Wells. Wells finished as 24th almost 3.00 down on the winner.
After six races Sven Nys is still leading the Superprestige Series with a total of 84 points. Nys has two points more than Klaas Vantornout and 11 points more than his arch rival Bart Wellens. The Superprestige will continue with the penultimate round in Hoogstraten on February 8, 2009.
In the U23 category German Philipp Walsleben continued his dominance. The European Champion and World Cup winner outsprinted Arnaud Jouffroy and Mitchell Huenders for the victory. Ten seconds later, Kenneth van Compernolle and Quentin Bertholet completed the top five. Summerhill was once again the best American at rank fourteen.
In the Junior category Tijmen Eising made up for his loss in the Zolder World Cup by holding off his compatriot Lars van der Haar and Belgian Wietse Bosmans. Zach McDonald showed his great form, finishing as best American at sixth.
Result Elite-Men
1 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 1.00.44
2 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 0.08
3 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tonissteiner
4 Thijs Al (Ned) BeOne
5 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.39
6 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 0.45
7 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.50
8 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 0.55
9 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.58
10 Martin Bína (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 1.05
11 Christian Heule (Swi) Rendementhypo Cycling Team 1.35
12 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 1.38
13 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Van Vliet EBH Elshof 1.41
14 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 1.45
15 Ben Berden (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 2.21
16 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 2.26
17 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Liquigas
18 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner
19 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans – Cras
20 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Prodoli Racing Team 2.36
21 Tom Van den Bosch (Bel) Rendementhypo Cycling Team 2.45
22 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Drink
23 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans Cras 2.48
24 Troy Wells (USA) TIAA CREF/Clif Bar 2.55
25 Wesley Van der Linden (Bel) 3.22
26 Jan Soetens (Bel) Revor Cycling Team 3.42
27 Wilant van Gils (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida 3.51
28 Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike 4.04
29 Jempy Drucker (Lux) Fidea Cycling Team 4.09
30 David Boucher (Fra) 4.16
31 Matt Shriver (USA) 4.38
32 Jody Crawforth (GBr) Arctic Premier 5.01
33 Keiichi Tsujiura (Jpn) 5.19
34 Brian Matter (USA) 5.47
35 Derrick St. John (Can) 6.22
36 Sven Renders (Bel) 6.37
37 Jonathan Baker (USA) 7.00
38 David Meys (Bel) Scott USA Cycling Team 7.32
39 Robin Seymour (Irl) + 1 lap
40 Adrian Lansley (GBr)
41 Andre Sutton (Can) Hardcore Cycling Club + 2 laps
42 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) + 3 laps
43 Julien Theron (Fra) + 4 laps
44 Stephen Dessaint (Fra) + 5 laps
Result Men-U23
1 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 48.54
2 Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra)
3 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) 0.02
4 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) 0.10
5 Quentin Bertholet (Bel)
6 Lukas Kloucek (Cze) 0.30
7 Marcel Meisen (Ger)
8 Pawel Szczepaniak (Pol)
9 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned)
10 Marek Konwa (Pol)
11 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) 0.47
12 Sascha Weber (Ger)
13 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel)
14 Daniel Summerhill (USA)
15 Micki van Empel (Ned)
16 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) 0.58
17 Sylvester Janiszewski (Pol) 1.15
18 Jan Van Dael (Bel)
19 Sven Verboven (Bel)
20 Jim Aernouts (Bel)
21 Bjorn Selander (USA)
22 Ivar Hartogs (Ned) 1.22
23 Joeri Adams (Bel)
24 David Fletcher (GBr) 1.25
25 Julien Taramarcaz (Swi)
26 Dries Dewit (Bel) 1.40
27 Kevin Eeckhout (Bel)
28 Jasper Ockeloen (Ned)
29 Bart Bruyndonckx (Bel)
30 Dave De Cleyn (Bel) 1.50
31 Dany Lacroix (Bel) 1.52
32 Twan van den Brand (Ned) 1.56
33 Kobus Hereijgers (Ned) 2.00
34 Jan Van Zeebroeck (Bel)
35 Matthias Onghena (Bel) 2.10
36 Simon Geets (Bel)
37 Geert van der Horst (Ned) 2.20
38 Kaj Slenter (Ned) 2.22
39 Gianni Denolf (Bel)
40 Marco Minnaard (Ned) 2.28
41 Mark Thaites (GBr)
42 Jelle Brackman (Bel)
43 Kristof Cop (Bel)
44 Jeremy Ferguson (USA)
45 Zeb Willems (Bel) 2.32
46 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) 3.00
47 Max Walsleben (Ger) 3.10
48 Kristof Zegers (Bel)
49 Wim Thijs (Bel)
50 Alexander Forst (Ger) 3.20
51 Jens Gys (Bel)
52 Ruben Veestraeten (Bel) 4.00
53 Thomas Vernaeckt (Bel)
54 William Dragon (USA)
55 Kacper Szczepaniak (Pol) 4.40
56 Dave Hackworthy (USA) 4.50
57 Bart Barkhuis (Ned) 5.10
58 Valentin Scherz (Swi) 5.26
59 Andrew Llewellyn (USA)
60 Arnaud Van den Abeele (Bel)
61 Piotr Antkowiak (Pol) 5.38
62 Edwin Arts (Ned)
63 Brian Robinson (Can)
64 Jean-Baptiste Taleux (Fra) + 1 lap
65 Kenneth Speltinck (Bel)
66 Laurent Moulin (Bel)
67 Joachim Janssens (Bel)
Result Juniors
1 Tijmen Eising (Ned) 36.24
2 Lars van der Haar (Ned 0.02
3 Wietse Bosmans (Bel) 0.05
4 Michiel van der Heijden (Ned) 0.20
5 Corné van Kessel (Ned)
6 Zach McDonald (USA) 0.33
7 Angelo De Clercq (Bel)
8 Bart De Vocht (Bel) 0.35
9 Mike Teunissen (Ned) 1.19
10 Bas Krauwel (Ned) 1.33
11 Niels Koyen (Bel)
12 Gavin Mannnion (USA)
13 Daan Meijers (Ned)
14 Lukas Müller (Ned)
15 Xandro Meurisse (Bel)
16 David van der Poel (Ned)
17 Emilien Barben (Swi)
18 Frederik Geerts (Bel) 1.40
19 Ruben Scheire (Bel)
20 Jelle Lugten (Ned)
21 Jesper Baelen (Bel) 1.45
22 Anthony Grand (Swi)
23 Eric Emsky (USA)
24 Vinnie Braet (Bel) 2.10
25 Karl Peeters (Bel) 2.15
26 Wilco van Beusekom (Ned)
27 Dario Stauble (Swi) 2.40
28 Lucienne Gabriel (Swi) 2.50
29 Kody Kaiser (USA)
30 Jens Adams (Bel) 3.15
31 Raf Risbourg (Bel) 3.40
32 Hendrik Sweeck (Bel) 3.52
33 Joseph Dombrowski (USA)
34 Emmanuel Goguren (USA) 4.10
35 Nick van Dijke (Ned) 4.19
36 Ben Kerrebrouck (Bel)
37 Kevin Neirynck (Bel)
38 Floris De Tier (Bel)
39 Chris Wallace (USA)
40 Olivier Vernaet (Bel)
41 Gert Ceulemans (Bel)
42 Jordy Van Staeyen (Bel) 4.40
43 Daniel Horyza (Pol)
44 Olivier Vandevijver (Bel)
45 Cody Cox (USA) 4.50
46 Morgan Ryan (USA)
47 Gert-Jan Opsomer (Bel) 5.10
48 Yoeri Bertels (Bel)
49 Jens Van den Bosch (Bel)
50 Jelko Vanderbeken (Bel) 7.10
51 Olivier Smet (Bel) 7.55
52 Joeri Rietveld (Bel) + 1 lap
53 Thomas Bourgeois (Fra)
54 Mike Mutsaerts (Bel)
