Luxemburgish National Championships - 27.06-29.06.2003 - Oetrange/Contern
Summary of the minimes' road-race:
km 0 24 riders on the start, 15 minutes after the cadets for 4 laps (22 km).
3rd lap A lot of riders are dropped and 9 riders stay in the lead. Behind them, the rest of the riders form little groups of 3 or 4 men.
4th lap After an acceleration of Olivier Wies, Bob Jungels and Jacky Buijk, the leading group splits into pieces: only one of the three can be champion.
Wies drops the two other riders not far away from the finish.
km 22 Olivier Wies is National Champion 2003 minimes.
7 seconds later, Jungels sprints better than Buijk for 2nd place.
Summary of the cadets' road-race:
km 0 28 riders are present on the start. The race distance is 7 laps (38 km 500).
1st lap The speed is not too fast, and no-one manages to get away from the bunch.
2nd lap It is Tom Kohn that attacks now and he breaks away. Several meters of advance for him.
3rd lap The peloton does not really react and the gap is now 1'10".
4th lap Tom Kohn is very regular and the gap is still more than a minute.
5th lap The favorites smell the danger and react behind the leader. Tom Thill, Pierre Weimerskirch and Philippe Hutmacher leave the rest of the bunch after an acceleration of the latter.
7th lap At the beginning of the last lap, the advance for Tom Kohn is still 25 seconds on the 3 chasers.
Kohn is caught 2 km before the finisch after a solo break of more than 20 km.
1 km later, Thill attacks and drops everybody. Pierre Weimerskirch chases a few meters behind.
km 38,5 Tom Thill is Luxemburgish champion 2003 in the cadets' category, 14" in front of Weimerskirch and 23" before Hutmacher and the unlucky Kohn.
Summary of the road-race of the women:
km 0 9 women start for 55 km (10 laps).
5th lap Unfortunately, nothing happens in the race. The riders fear each other and no one wants to lead the race. Only one rider has been dropped from the peloton until now.
6th lap Isabelle Hoffmann, one of the favorites, starts the race at last. She has attacked and taken the lead by some meters.
7th lap The gap is interesting. Behind the leader, no-one is able to chase for real.
8th lap Hoffmann is very regular. Her advance increases and she will probably win the race.
km 55 Isabelle Hoffmann is Luxemburgish road champion 2003.
2 minutes later, Christine Kovelter wins the sprint for 2nd place in front of Danièlle Lentz.
Betty Kinn and Nathalie Lamborelle are the best younger riders. Both of them have finished the race in the bunch with their older colleagues.
Summary of the beginners' road-race:
km 0 15 minutes after the juniors at 10h15, it is the turn for 29 beginners to race during 4 laps (60 km).
1st lap There are attacks from the beginning, the peloton rides on a long line, but no-one manages to get away. After every attack, the speed drops and everybody looks at each other. The average speed is not very high.
2th lap The same picture: Attacks, mostly on the top of the climbs, but nothing very serious. Some riders are dropped at the back of the group.
3th lap Still no rider manages to break away. Half of the men are still in the first group.
4th lap 15 riders begin the last lap together.
Attack of main favorite Nico Schinker on the last climb. Some riders are dropped, but 8 remain together at the top of the côte de Syren and will sprint for victory.
