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2009 European Cyclocross Championships, Hoogstraten.

Vos celebrates her European Championship with her close fans. © Bart Hazen

by Bart Hazen

The Netherlands’ Marianne Vos soloed to a dominant win to take the European Cyclocross Championships over her teammate Daphny van den Brand and Britain’s Helen Wyman. Slovakia’s Gavenda took the U23 title, and France’s Viennet took the Junior title.

Junior Men

The 2009 European Championships in Hoogstraten (Belgium) kicked-off this morning with the Juniors race. The gold medal went as expected to the leader in the World Cup, France’s Emilien Viennet. Home rider Laurens Sweeck finished as second and Dutch Michiel van der Heijden as third. Two other Dutch riders, Mike Teunissen and Gert-Jan Bosman, completed the top five.

Second year junior Viennet took the hole shot. The winner of the first World Cup in Treviso immediately took a lead of over ten seconds on a chasing group with Laurens Sweeck (Belgium), Michiel van der Heijden (The Netherlands) and Mike Teunissen (The Netherlands).

2009 Junior European Cyclocross Championships Podium. © Bart Hazen

2009 Junior European Cyclocross Championships Podium. © Bart Hazen

After several laps Sweeck dropped the two Dutch riders and would gain back time on Viennet, but couldn’t quite bridge up to the French rider. For Viennet it’s his first international title in his career.

The new European champ said, “My season is already a success with this jersey. The Europeans were not my main target, that will be the World Championships in Tabor.”

U23 Men (Espoirs)

World Cup leader Robert Gavenda is the new U23 European Champion. The Slovakian of the Telenet-Fidea team was the best in a dramatic race over Poland’s Pawel Szczepaniak and Belgium’s Tom Meeusen. Poland’s Kacper Szczepaniak and Italy’s Elia Silvestri completed the top five.

The U23 race was fast but featured tight, exciting. New BKCP-Powerplus signing Arnaud Jouffroy (France) took the holeshot with Italy’s Elia Silvestri. The duo stayed in front for a few laps before Slovakian Champion Robert Gavenda and the Polish Szczepaniak brothers took over.

In the final lap, the trio was joined by Tom Meeusen, the surprising Elia Silvestri and reigning Junior World Champion, France’s Arnaud Jouffroy. With two laps to go, Gavenda, the strongest rider in the race, dropped the others to win solo with a small lead over his former break companions.

For Gavenda it’s his third big win of the season after the World Cup in Treviso and the win in the Koppenberg cross last week.

Vos Hoards Another Crown

Marianne Vos has added another title to her impressive palmares. The Dutch World Champion soloed to the gold medal after taking the lead in the second lap. Daphny van den Brand, who returned in competition after an illness, finished in second and Britain’s Helen Wyman as third. Czech duo Katerina Nash and the winner of the Koppenberg race Pavla Havlikova completed the top five.

The podium selection: Vos, Van den Brand, and Wyman. © Bart Hazen 2009 European Cyclocross Championships, Hoogstraten.

The podium selection: Vos, Van den Brand, and Wyman. © Bart Hazen

Dutch Champion Daphny van den Brand took the holeshot and led the race for a lap and ahalf. Dutch star Reza Hormes had to abandon the race after a crash just a few hundred meters after the start. World Champion Marianne Vos, competing in her third race of the season, had to start in the back of the field once again due to a lack of UCI points. Vos quickly bridged up to the front before getting rid of Van den Brand and Wyman in the second lap.

For second place, the battle was tighter as Daphny van den Brand and Helen Wyman were caught by a chasing group containing Katerina Nash, Pavla Havlikova, Sanne van Paassen and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau. In the last lap Van den Brand and later also Wyman were able to drop the others to finish second and third, respectively, behind the unapproachable Marianne Vos.

For Vos the win in Hoogstraten is her second European title of her career and also her second win of the season after Woerden.

The reigning World Champion was clearly happy. “My second European title! This is beautiful, even after all my Olympic and World titles. This was my third race of the season, and my second win. On the Koppenberg last week I had bad luck while riding in the lead.”

Wyman was satisfied with her result, as it was her first major championship medal and comes in a fine run of form.  “I came really close to a medal in the Euro’s a few years ago, but a double puncture stopped that attempt,” she explained. “I’m just so happy things have gone my way and I’m able to be on the podium in a major championship.”

Luna’s Katerina Nash (CZE) skipped the NACT’s  Colorado weekend to make a run at the European title, but was one place off the podium in fourth. Full results below.

Photo Gallery:

Full Results:

Elite Women:

Rank Name Nat. Age* Result PaR
1 Marianne VOS NED 23 38:40 150
2 Daphny VAN DEN BRAND NED 32 39:17 100
3 Helen WYMAN GBR 29 39:22 70
4 Katerina NASH CZE 33 39:30 50
5 Pavla HAVLIKOVA CZE 27 39:35 30
6 Sanne VAN PAASSEN NED 22 39:48 20
7 Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAU FRA 31 40:11 17
8 Caroline MANI FRA 23 40:11 15
9 Joyce VANDERBEKEN BEL 26 40:40 12
10 Sanne CANT BEL 20 40:44 10
11 Linda VAN RIJEN NED 22 40:46 8
12 Katrin LEUMANN SUI 28 40:47 6
13 Saskia ELEMANS NED 33 41:01 4
14 Lucie CHAINEL LEFEVRE FRA 27 41:12 2
15 Evelyn STAFFLER ITA 26 41:30 1
16 Nadia TRIQUET-CLAUDE FRA 32 41:34
17 Jana KYPTOVA CZE 25 41:38
18 Arenda GRIMBERG NED 32 41:43
19 Pauline FERRAND PREVOT FRA 18 41:43
20 Gabriella DAY GBR 26 41:50
21 Sophie DE BOER NED 20 41:58
22 Veronica ALESSIO ITA 23 42:01
23 Elisabeth BRANDAU GER 25 42:14
24 Sabrina SCHWEIZER GER 20 42:19
25 Elke RIEDL AUT 39 43:15
26 Nancy BOBER BEL 35 43:43
27 Lise-Marie HENZELIN SUI 19 44:17
28 Martina MIKULÁŠKOVÁ CZE 17 44:45
29 Zuzana PIRZKALLOVÁ CZE 17
30 Eszter DOSA HUN 27

Espoirs:

Rank Name Nat. Age* Result PaR
1 Robert GAVENDA SVK 22 50:26 100
2 Pawel SZCZEPANIAK POL 21 50:31 60
3 Tom MEEUSEN BEL 22 50:34 40
4 Kacper SZCZEPANIAK POL 20 50:34 30
5 Elia SILVESTRI ITA 20 50:53 25
6 Jim AERNOUTS BEL 21 50:53 20
7 Arnaud JOUFFROY FRA 20 50:53 17
8 Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE BEL 22 50:53 15
9 Matthieu BOULO FRA 21 51:07 12
10 Jan DENUWELAER BEL 22 51:18 10
11 Lars VAN DER HAAR NED 19 51:18 8
12 Mitchell HUENDERS NED 22 51:26 6
13 Stef BODEN BEL 20 51:38 4
14 Twan VAN DEN BRAND NED 21 51:45 2
15 Kevin CANT BEL 22 51:51 1
16 Ole QUAST GER 21 51:51
17 Jiri POLNICKY CZE 21 51:51
18 Tijmen EISING NED 19 51:51
19 Matteo TRENTIN ITA 21 52:04
20 Arnaud GRAND SUI 20 52:04
21 Micki VAN EMPEL NED 20 52:25
22 Marcel MEISEN GER 21 52:48
23 Corne VAN KESSEL NED 19 52:48
24 Jan NESVADBA CZE 19 52:58
25 Kobus HEREIJGERS NED 21 53:04
26 Sven BEELEN BEL 20 53:04
27 Irwin GRAS FRA 19 53:04
28 Thibault TABOURY FRA 21 53:04
29 Michael WINTERBERG SUI 20 53:07
30 Alessandro CALDERAN ITA 21 53:24
31 Fabian DANNER GER 20 53:24
32 Filip ADEL CZE 20 53:30
33 Melvin RULLIERE FRA 21 53:35
34 Max WALSLEBEN GER 20 53:48
35 Karel HNIK CZE 19 53:48
36 Matthias RUPP SUI 20 53:48
37 Michael SCHWEIZER GER 19 53:53
38 Lubomir PETRUS CZE 20 53:56
39 David MENGER CZE 22 54:45
40 Théo VIMPERE FRA 20 55:01
41 Eric BRUNGGER SUI 20 55:08
42 Enno QUAST GER 19 55:50
43 Nico BRÜNGGER SUI 22 56:18
44 Geert VAN DER HORST NED 20
45 Domenico maria SALVIANI ITA 19

Juniors:

Rank Name Nat. Age* Result PaR
1 Emilien VIENNET FRA 18 40:51 30
2 Laurens SWEECK BEL 17 41:02 20
3 Michiel VAN DER HEIJDEN NED 18 41:14 15
4 Mike TEUNISSEN NED 18 41:33 12
5 Gert-Jan BOSMAN NED 18 41:39 10
6 Jens ADAMS BEL 18 41:39 8
7 Emiel DOLFSMA NED 18 41:42 6
8 Matej LASAK CZE 18 41:44 4
9 Michael BOROS CZE 18 41:52 2
10 Danny VAN POPPEL NED 17 41:57 1
11 Jens VANDEKINDEREN BEL 17 42:02
12 Gianni VERMEERSCH BEL 18 42:14
13 Lars FORSTER SUI 17 42:14
14 Tomas PAPRSTKA CZE 18 42:16
15 Daniel VESELY CZE 18 42:20
16 David MENUT FRA 18 42:27
17 Fabio Alfonso TODARO ITA 18 42:30
18 Bastien DUCULTY FRA 18 42:34
19 Wenzel BÖHM-GRÄBER GER 18 42:37
20 Clément LE BRAS FRA 18 42:37
21 Xandro MEURISSE BEL 18 43:00
22 Fabian LIENHARD SUI 17 43:07
23 Julien EHLINGER FRA 18 43:11
24 Radek POLNICKY CZE 18 43:15
25 Vojtech NIPL CZE 17 43:24
26 David VAN DER POEL NED 18 43:30
27 Nicolas SAMPARISI ITA 18 43:30
28 Diether SWEECK BEL 17 43:40
29 Pietro SANTINI ITA 18 43:44
30 Daniel MCLAY GBR 18 43:50
31 Julian LEHMANN GER 17 43:50
32 Thomas MOSES GBR 18 43:57
33 Floris DE TIER BEL 18 44:01
34 Kenny KASTELIJN NED 17 44:06
35 Ondrej ŽNIVA CZE 17 44:19
36 Andrea SOTTOCORNOLA ITA 17 44:36
37 Dylan PAGE SUI 17 44:43
38 Andrea RIGHETTINI ITA 18 44:43
39 Etienne BRIARD FRA 18 45:06
40 Johannes CORDS GER 17 45:07
41 Tobias DEPRIE GER 18 45:10
42 Jakub SKALA CZE 17 45:23
43 Lex REICHLING LUX 18 46:24
44 Rudy LORENZON ITA 18 46:35
45 Alec BRIGGS GBR 17 46:46