National Luxemburgish Championships - 26.06-27.06.2003 - Oetrange/Niederanven
Report from the road-race of the minimes:
17 of the youngest riders present themselves on the place de la Gare in Hostert for 15 km of racing. The first section, with several hills and turns, is the most tricky one, and the peloton soon breaks into two pieces. At the front, 9 riders are still riding for the title, but two of them are loosing contact a little later. On the final part of the circuit, there are some accelerations, but the seven riders present themselves together at the last kilometer. On the uphill final 500m , this group breaks completely apart, with Bob Jungels, Jimmy Reinert and Alex Kirsch in front. The latter two are fighting side by side for the victory and Kirsch takes it away for a few centimeters only.
Report from the road-race of the cadets:
21 cadets take a relatively cautious start at 13h10. Their 2 laps (34 km) should be difficult with a total change in altitude of nearly 300 metres. At the first passage on the line, Tom Thill takes a very powerfull turn in front which explodes the bunch. On top of the climb, 8 riders remain in the lead together. Despite several attacks, a sprint is unavoidable and 6 riders are in line for it: Thill, Katzenmeier, Wies, Marin, Hengen and Gilles Lamesch. The last one shows out to be very strong and he wins with several meters advance on the two Toms, Thill and Hengen.
Report from the road-race of the women:
3 laps or 52,5 km on the program for the 9 women. Without incident, the big favourite and title holder Isabelle Hoffmann should win. She rides for the semi-professional dutch squad Bianchi and is, besides Suzie Godart, the only one that shows up regularly at the big international races. On the first climb, after 1 km of race, the girl from VS Dommeldange flies away from her contestants for a solo ride of 51 km. Her team-mate Suzie Godart also breaks away at the same time. She is riding alone in second place for the whole race, but without ever being capable of threatening Isabelle Hoffmann, who rides very regularly and increases her advantage in each lap until the finish line. Betty Kinn wins the sprint for third place, nearly 12 minutes down on the winner.
Report from the road-race of the beginners:
The beginners' field is the biggest one in the morning because at 9 o'clock, they are 34 to line up for 4 laps, that means 70 km. But the 34 are not all serious contenders for the title, so the bunch gets smaller and smaller throughout the first laps. After an acceleration, a group of 3 riders breaks away with Kim Michely and David Schloesser, the national cyclo-cross champion, as well as Yannick Stoltz, the title holder. No doubt they are the strongest riders and their gap grows to over 2 and a half minutes in the last lap. On the final climb, the group doesn't tear apart and the 3 riders remain together until the finish line. Kim Michely is the first one to loose ground in the sprint and David Schloesser leads. On his right-hand side, Yannick Stoltz gets closer and closer ... and overtakes Schlösser on the line with his last jump. The bunch finishes over 3 minutes down.
