Cycling Reports

POWER 7th iN BELGIUM

By Gerard Cromwell (Apr 13)

On the day before Mark Scanlon was due to have his first taste of the cobbles that mark the Paris-Roubaix classic, Ciaran Power was negotiating more of the dreaded pavé in the 1.3 Rond Van Drenthe in Belgium.

Cold, frosty weather marked this tough 201km event with it's 11 stretches of cobbled road, adding up to 40kms in total. Matthe Pronk (Bankgirolettor) set the tone for the day with an attack after just one kilometre. Building a lead of 1'30", Pronk was then joined by Landobouwkredit Colnago's Yuri Metulshenko, ComNet's Hans Juretzek and Weisenhof's Lars Wackernagel.

This quartet worked well to open a gap of five minutes before the Navigator's team of Power put Oleg Grichkine and Chris Baldwin on the front. At 80 km the peloton tackled the first section of cobbles. Punctures, crashes and the ensuing dust cloud from the pounding on the cobbles were taking its toll on many.

At 135kms Power found himself in the 60-strong lead group with teammates Vogels, Louder, Wherry and Walters for company. Three laps up a steep cobbled climb saw the group split again and 13 riders went clear first time up. On the second ascent of the narrow climb, Power jumped across to join Navigators Jeff Louder in the lead group of 25.

On the final lap, BankGiro set the pace with defending champion Rudie Kemna, Jans Koerts, and Pronk being potentially the fastest. Power took the wheel of Dutch sprinter Koerts who, sensing the danger of the Irishman, sat up to let Kemna clear for his second win in two years. Having been hampered by the Bankgiro sprinters, Power still managed to finish 7th and continues his impressive comeback from a knee injury.

Results - 201.9 km 1 Rudie Kemna (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 5.06.11 (39.56 km/h) 2 Eric Baumann (Ger) Team Wiesenhof 3 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Wiesenhof 4 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 5 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Van Hemert Groep Cycling Team 6 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 7 Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators Cycling Team 8 Arthur Farenhout (Ned) Axa Cycling Team 9 Fulco Van Gulik (Ned) Bert Story-Piels 10 Marco Bos (Ned) Cycling Team Löwik Meubelen-Tegeltoko 11 Tom Stremersch (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 12 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team fakta 13 Paul Van Schalen (Ned) Axa Cycling Team 14 Jeffry Louder (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 15 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 16 Edwin Dunning (Ned) Van Hemert Groep Cycling Team 17 Marcel Luppes (Ned) Apac Cycling Team 18 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 19 Jos Lucassen (Ned) Axa Cycling Team 20 Markus Eichler (Ger) Team ComNet-Senges

Email: gerard@irishcycling.com

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