Lars Boom takes his first cross win of the season. © Bart Hazen
by Bart Hazen
Dutch National Champion Lars Boom won the international cyclocross at the Grand Prix Julien Cajot in Leudelange, Luxembourg. The Rabobank rider made his season debut and dominated the race from the start to win with a lead of over one minute on his rivals. Ben Berden finished in second while Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) completed the podium. Tom van den Bosch and local hero Jempy Drucker finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth.
Boom attacked from the start and immediately created a gap on Jonathan Page, Tom van den Bosch, Ben Berden and Jempy Drucker. The battle for the third place was exciting between Drucker, Page and Van den Bosch. Drucker was the first to drop with Page followed by Van den Bosch in the penultimate lap.Boom was happy with how his ’cross debut went saying, “It went very well. I could keep a good pace and have amused myself today. The feeling was good”, said a delighted national champion. “I have chosen this ’cross above the local race in Moergestel because this is a better course. My intention for this race was to give it all and I succeeded in that. I want to have a good rhythm during weekdays and want to bring in the intensity in the weekends with riding ’cross races.”
On next weekends races in Essen and Overijsse Boom said, “I will give all I have from the start next week. I don’t know if I can battle against Nys and Albert next week, but we will see.”
Jonathan Page was delighted with his third place. “I sucked the first half, for many reasons, some of which were my own fault. Once I finally got going, I felt like my old pre-injury/infection self! I actually rode fast and hard! It was great!”.
Photo Gallery
Full Results:
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | PaR | PcR |
| 1 | Lars BOOM | NED | 26 | 58:30 | 40 | 40 |
| 2 | Ben BERDEN | BEL | 36 | 59:28 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Jonathan PAGE | USA | 35 | 59:33 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | Tom VAN DEN BOSCH | BEL | 26 | 1:00:31 | 15 | 15 |
| 5 | Jean-Pierre DRUCKER | LUX | 25 | 1:00:56 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | Stijn HUYS | BEL | 25 | 1:01:59 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Tim VAN NUFFEL | BEL | 30 | 1:02:00 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | Wilant VAN GILS | NED | 32 | 1:02:11 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | Gianni DENOLF | BEL | 24 | 1:02:24 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Pit SCHLECHTER | LUX | 21 | 1:02:41 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Magnus DARVELL | SWE | 29 | 1:02:54 | ||
| 12 | Gusty BAUSCH | LUX | 31 | 1:03:03 | ||
| 13 | Filip EBERL | CZE | 29 | 1:03:38 | ||
| 14 | Vaclav METLICKA | SVK | 38 | 1:03:38 | ||
| 15 | Ritchie DENOLF | BEL | 20 | 1:03:53 | ||
| 16 | Jérôme JUNKER | LUX | 36 | 1:04:04 | ||
| 17 | Tom FLAMMANG | LUX | 33 | 1:04:15 | ||
| 18 | Pascal TRIEBEL | LUX | 45 | 1:04:23 | ||
| 19 | Scott THILTGES | LUX | 19 | |||
| 20 | Claude WOLTER | LUX | 28 | |||
| 21 | Benn WÜRTH | LUX | 29 | |||
| 22 | Olivier LATERZA | LUX | 30 | |||
| 23 | Roland GOLDERER | GER | 34 | |||
| 24 | Pierre OLLIET | FRA | 31 | |||
| 25 | Philipp BÜTZOW | LUX | 24 | |||
| 26 | Cyrille HEYMANS | LUX | 25 | |||
| 27 | Christian JOACHIM | LUX | 41 | |||
| 28 | Alex KIRSCH | LUX | 19 | |||
| 29 | Robert SIMON | LUX | 35 | |||
| 30 | Tom STEICHEN | LUX | 31 | |||
| 31 | Fabien GRESNIK | FRA | 26 | |||
| 32 | Gilles KNEIP | LUX | 26 |
