GP Ostfenster/GP Comat - October 29, 2006 - Contern
Report from the races:
Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern for elite and U23 riders:
Together with Frank Schleck, who has become a national hero this summer, and his brother Andy, the spectators of the 3rd Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern had to wait until
But the Belgian elite without contract champion isn't the one to give up easily and slowly but surely, he moves up the race, leaving behind him Tom Flammang victim of a flat tyre. Willemsens joins the group Chicosz in the third lap and immediately opens the chase on the two leaders who still have a couple of seconds of advantage. One lap later, the junction is made: Willemsens and Lukes join Chrobak and Hekele at the front, so that we have now 4 leaders, with another 4 riders chasing a few meters behind: Chicosz, Kaiser, De Kort, Meys. Further behind, Gusty Bausch has taken his usual place of best Luxemburgish rider in front of two riders from Tétange, Pascal Triebel and the young Kim Michely.
The four leader are playing tactics and the Czech riders attack one after another. Hekele even tries several times to surprise the others on the asphalt strokes, but Willemsens is very attentive, he always stays in the front positions and chases down each attack. There is still a lot of suspense in the race, because behind the four leaders, the chasers remain in sight and everything still seems possible.
During the penultimate lap, David Willemsens attacks himself. His acceleration seems decisive because first the former world champion Lukes,
Chrobak finishes 5 seconds behind, whereas Hekele in third and Lukes in fourth position complete the excellent performance of the Czech riders. Tom de Kort realizes a very strong final lap and takes the fifth place only a few seconds behind Lukes, whereas a sick Gusty Bausch finishes in a disappointing 12th position, remaining nevertheless best Luxemburgish rider in front of Triebel (13th) and Michely (15th). Polish rider Sylwester Janiszewski finishes as best U23 rider in 14th position, just in front of the son of Claude Michely. For the first time in Contern, David Willemsens has written his name into the palmares as winner, after he has had already several top-placings here in the past.
Grand-prix Comat for juniors and beginners:
the very end to see who was the winner. Even if the Czech riders Jan Chrobak and Emil Hekele have a very fast start as usual and are already alone in the lead after the first lap. Behind them, a chasing group with more riders frome Eastern Europe like Ondrej Lukes or Marek Chicosz and Andrej Kaiser from Poland tries to come back and there are some Belgian riders too: De Kort, Meys and Van
der Veken. The favourite of the race David Willemsens has a bad start and is far behind, whereas Tom Flammang makes a very good opening lap and leads the Luxemburgish riders.
and then also Hekele are dropped. But on the dry and fast course, Jan Chrobak resists and stays only a few meters behind. He even manages the come back into Willemsens' wheel on the very last run-up.
But the Czech rider has a World-Cup race and a long trip from the day before in his legs and the Belgian seems fresher. Willemsens is still strong, jumps earlier on the bike than Chrobak and takes that small advantage that allows him to claim the victory in the very last hectometers of the race.
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The 18th édition of the Grand-prix Comat is held under spring-like conditions with blue sky and warm temperatures. From the beginning of the race, the favourites go into the lead with a group of four riders composed by Luc Hammer and Vincent Dias Dos Santos (LC Tétange), as well as Philippe Hutmacher (Kayl) and German rider Josef Rauber.
A little bit further behind, another rider from Tétange, Gabriel Forget, is leading the race in the beginner category. The best junior riders show a very nice race with several changes in position. Dias Dos Santos and Hutmacher are the the most active and break away several times, but Hammer and Rauber come back each time. Finally, German Josef Rauber has the last word by attacking in the last lap and taking the victory with 24 seconds advantage on Vincent Dias Dos Santos. In the beginners category, Gabriel Forget leads the race from the beginning to the end and wins in front of another German rider, Martin Haas.
