by Bart Hazen of the Daily Peloton
The fifth round of the Superprestige in Gieten was threatened by cold weather and lots of rain the entire day. The win went to Sunweb-Projob rider Klaas Vantornout as he defeated Bart Wellens in a close finish. Belgian Champion Sven Nys was best of the rest completing the day’s podium.
Home riders Thijs Al and Richard Groenendaal had the best start in Gieten but soon Bart Wellens, Klaas Vantornout and Sven Nys took over control.
Vantornout attacked shortly afterwards and nobody was able to follow. Behind Vantornout, Nys was in the lead of the chasing group which fell apart. Due to this Nys created a gap together with Swiss Christian Heule.
Halfway the race Bart Wellens found his strengths and bridged up to Nys as Heule had to drop. At the end of the lap, with four laps to go, Vantornout had a lead of over twenty seconds on the two Belgian rivals.
Behind these three, a large chasing group of eleven riders was trying their best to limit their losses. Zdenek Stybar, Rob Peeters, Kevin Pauwels, Dieter Vanthourenhout, Gerben de Knegt, Thijs Al, Martin Zlamalik, Bart Aernouts, Radomir Simunek, Thijs van Amerongen and Marco Bianco were in a tight pack, but these eleven riders were over 30 seconds behind and didn’t play any role for victory.
In the remaining laps, a determined Bart Wellens was able to get rid of Sven Nys, and then with two laps to go, Wellens bridged to Vantornout just after the Sunweb rider crashed. Sven Nys was only ten to fifteen seconds behind but wasn’t able to make it to the front.
In the final lap both Vantornout and Wellens were equal to each other as there were no attacks. A sprint had to decide the winner and in a close sprint finish it was Vantornout who was the fastest.
After five races Sven Nys is leading the Superprestige series with 71 points. Klaas Vantornout is second with 68 points and Bart Wellens is third with 62 points. The top five are all Belgian with Pauwels and Vervecken in fourth and fifth.
The other races were won by Kenneth van Compernolle (U23), Sanne van Paassen (Women) and Lars van der Haar (Juniors). Van Compernolle had a very successful weekend winning both in Koksijde and in Gieten. Next to that it was a very successful weekend for the Sunweb-Projob team with the wins of Van Compernolle and Vantornout.
Result Elite-Men:
1 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 1.01.48
2 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
3 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 0.40
4 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.57
5 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team
6 Rob Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner
7 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans – Cras
8 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank
9 Thijs Al (Ned) BeOne
10 Martin Zlámalík (Cze)
11 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank
12 Radomír Šimunek (Cze) Palmans – Cras
13 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Vacansoleil
14 Marco Bianco (Ita)
15 Eddy van IJzendoorn (Ned) 1.17
16 Christian Heule (Swi) 1.27
17 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 1.38
18 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 2.32
19 Paul Voss (Ger) 3C Gruppe Lamonta 2.52
20 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team 3.02
21 Wilant van Gils (Ned) Pro Cycling Team ZZPR.nl 3.47
22 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
23 Daan De Jonge (Ned) 4.17
24 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) 5.22
25 Tim Heemskerk (Can) 5.41
26 Tom De Kort (Bel) 5.46
27 Roy Van Heeswijk (Ned) 6.27
28 Geert Wellens (Bel) 1 lap
29 Camiel Van Den Bergh (Ned)
30 Mathijs Wagenaar (Ned)
Result Men-U23 :
1 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) 49.30.00
2 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) 0.10
3 Lubomír Petruš (Cze) 0.15
4 Joeri Adams (Bel)
5 Tom Meeusen (Bel) 0.30
6 Jim Aernouts (Bel) 0.40
7 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 0.55
8 Marek Konwa (Pol)
9 Twan van den Brand (Ned)
10 Jasper Ockeloen (Ned) 1.15
11 Vincent Baestaens (Bel)
12 Marcel Meisen (Ger) 1.50
13 Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) 2.05
14 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) 2.15
15 Lukáš Kloucek (Cze) 2.35
16 Julian van Dijk (Ned) 3.05
17 Jordy van Erp (Ned) 3.10
18 Geert van der Horst (Ned) 3.25
19 Jan Van Dael (Bel) 3.40
20 Mark Thwaites (GBr) 4.15
21 Micki van Empel (Ned) 4.45
22 Edwin Arts (Ned)
23 Kobus Hereijgers (Ned) 5.15
24 Nils van Kooij (Ned) 5.20
25 Gijs Strating (Ned) 5.30
26 Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned) 6.05
27 Kamil Gradek (Pol) 6.15
28 Marco Minnaard (Ned)
29 Erik Groen (Ned)
30 Jan Büchmann (Ger) Kieler RV
31 Bart Barkhuis (Ned)
32 Barry Hayes (Ger)
33 Cees de Ridder (Ned)
34 Ricardo Robben (Ned)
35 Patrick van Nunen (Ned)
36 Frank Jonkman (Ned)
Result Women:
1 Sanne van Paassen (Ned) 43.20
2 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) 0.04
3 Pavla Havlikova (Cze) 0.35
4 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) 1.30
5 Abke Francissen (Ned) 2.54
6 Sophie de Boer (Ned) 2.57
7 Tessa van Nieuwpoort (Ned) 3.10
8 Kirsten Peetoom (Ned) 3.40
9 Danielle Meijering (Ned) 4.50
10 Iris Ockeloen (Ned) 6.20
11 Françis Keizer (Ned) 6.40
12 Annefleur Kalvenhaar (Ned) 6.53
13 Kim Van Renterghem (Bel) 6.55
14 Linda Kroes (Ned) 8.05
15 Helena van Leijen (Ned) 8.30
16 Monika Heuveling (Ned) 1 lap
17 Mascha Pijpers (Ned)
18 Brit Teunissen (Ned)
19 Karin Groen (Ned)
20 Thamara Pijpers (Ned)
21 Solveig Riesebeek (Ned)
22 Margriet Engelsma (Ned)
23 Els den Engelse (Ned)
24 Melanie Klement (Ned)
Result Juniors (top 20):
1 Lars van der Haar (Ned) 38.40
2 Jan Nesvadba (Cze)
3 Mike Teunissen (Ned)
4 Wietse Bosmans (Bel)
5 David Van Der Poel (Ned)
6 Tijmen Eising (Ned)
7 Michiel van der Heijden (Ned)
8 Jens Adams (Bel)
9 Jelle Lugten (Ned)
10 Daan Meijers (Ned)
11 Elmar Reinders (Ned) 1.45
12 Gert-Jan Bosman (Bel)
13 Milan van den Ende (Ned) 2.15
14 Dylan van Baarle (Ned)
15 Dennis Stultiens (Ned) 3.05
16 Robin Wennekes (Ned)
17 Jochem Hoekstra (Ned) 3.15
18 Joey van Rhee (Ned) 3.30
19 Dion Vanhommerig (Ned) 3.40
20 Niek Boom (Ned) 3.50
