Mourey hung tough and was fastest in the finish © Bart Hazen
Mourey best in mudfest of Dottenijs
by Bart Hazen
Dottenijs, Belgium – French Speedster Francis Mourey (Francaise des Jeux) out-sprinted Czech Martin Zlámalík (Sunweb-Revor) in the finale to take an impressive win. Mourey, who was on fire in the early-season US races, winning StarCrossed, Rad Racing and CrossVegas in succession, now adds a Belgian win to this year’s campaign tally. It was Mourey’s first win the GP after taking two second places in previous editions. Gerben de Knegt (Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team) rounded out the podium, with American Jonathan Page, apparently recovered from the back trouble that’s recently been plaguing him, scoring his best European result of the season in fourth. Page was a handful of seconds in front of former world champ Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea), who finished fifth.
The Dottignies mudfest © Bart Hazen
Italian Matteo Trentini had the best start of all, followed by Martin Zlamalik, Gerben de Knegt, Francis Mourey, Tom Van den Bosch, Bart Wellens, Rob Peeters, Jonathan Page and a few others. Zlamalik took over in the second lap forming a leading group of 11.
In the third lap, Mourey pulled through and only De Knegt and Zlamalik followed. In the chase a group was formed with Bart Wellens, Rob Peeters, Tom van den Bosch, Jonathan Page, Kenneth van Compernolle, Thijs Al and Romain Lejeune.
In front Mourey and De Knegt did most of the work, with Zlamalik hanging on in their draft looking ready to pounce at any time. In the final two laps both De Knegt and Zlamalik tried their best to get rid of the fast-finishing Frenchman, but without success. In the sprint Mourey took his fifth win of the season. Earlier this year he was the best in Redmond, Issaquah, Las Vegas (all USA) and Marle (France).
Photo Gallery:
Full Results:
| 1 | Francis Mourey (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux | 0:54:03 | |
| 2 | Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Sunweb – Revor | 0:00:01 | |
| 3 | Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team | 0:00:12 | |
| 4 | Jonathan Page (USA) Planet Bike | 0:00:45 | |
| 5 | Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:49 | |
| 6 | Tom van den Bosch (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team | 0:00:51 | |
| 7 | Rob Peeters (Bel) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team | ||
| 8 | Kenneth van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | ||
| 9 | Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 0:00:56 | |
| 10 | Romain Lejeune (Fra) UV Aube | 0:00:58 | |
| 11 | Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus | 0:01:20 | |
| 12 | Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Van Vliet EBH Elshof | 0:01:36 | |
| 13 | Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco – Revor Cycling Team | 0:02:04 | |
| 14 | Marco Bianco (Ita) | ||
| 15 | Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | ||
| 16 | Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) | 0:02:13 | |
| 17 | Bram Schmitz (Ned) Van Vliet EBH Elshof | ||
| 18 | Ben Berden (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | 0:02:39 | |
| 19 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing | 0:02:43 | |
| 20 | Kevin Cant (Bel) | 0:02:57 | |
| 21 | Mitchell Huenders (Ned) BKCP-Powerplus | 0:03:39 | |
| 22 | Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) Lingier Versluys Team | 0:04:05 | |
| 23 | Romain Villa (Fra) | 0:04:21 | |
| 24 | Eddy van Ijzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team | 0:04:27 | |
| 25 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) | 0:04:46 | |
| 26 | Alberto Candelas Caballero (Spa) | 0:04:53 | |
| 27 | Carlos Hernandez Garcia (Spa) | ||
| 28 | Davy Commeyne (Bel) | ||
| 29 | Wilant van Gils (Ned) CX Nederland | ||
| 30 | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) | ||
| 31 | Hugo Rus (Spa) | ||
| 32 | Flavien Dassonville (Fra) Nogent Sur Oise | ||
| 33 | Jorge Rodriguez Garcia (Spa) | ||
| 34 | Adrien Pascal (Fra) | ||
| 35 | Diego Martínez (Spa) | ||
| 36 | David Boucher (FRA ) | ||
| 37 | Frédéric Amorison (BEL ) | ||
| 38 | Jorge Cantalicio (Spa) | ||
| 39 | Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) | ||
| 40 | Jean-Baptiste Taleux (Fra) | ||
| 41 | Baptiste Plackaert (Bel) | ||
| 42 | Javier Hernández (Spa) | ||
| 43 | Daniel Alejandro Moreno (Spa) |
