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Once again, the ACC Contern has tried to line up an international field with some more or less equally strong riders, able to show some spectacular racing and keep the suspense until the end. Even if last year in Niederanven, our neighbours from the West had to settle down against the German and the French riders, it seems clear that the Belgians are once again the favourites, notably with some young promising talents.
But the big news of the week is the participation of Jempy Drucker in the race of Contern.
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Le champion de Luxembourg Jempy Drucker (photo acc contern)
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The National Champion initially wanted to show up in the world-cup race of Tabor, but he has changed his plans after a very bad beginning of the season, marked by two DNF in Ruddervoorde and Kalmthout. Apparently, the injury that he contracted in the first Superprestige race was heavy enough to compromise his preparation for Tabor and he estimated that it wouldn't be useful to untertake the long trip to the Czech country. However, Jempy's preparation for this very crucial winter season had been perfect throughout the summer, with several stage races on the road. He even made some impressive results there like a second place on a stage of the Grand-prix Tell or a fifth during the Nations Cup in Canada. Recently, the Fidea rider participated in the Tour de l'Avenir and then in the world road championships, alongside Benoît Joachim and the Schleck brothers. The basis for an excellent cyclo-cross season is thus given and
Jempy will soon earn the fruits for all this work. Maybe already next week-end in Contern, on the same course where he won the Luxemburgish championships in very convincing manner, in early January 2008. For the Luxemburgish public, it will be the first time to see him in action after his title win and surely one of the rare possibilities this season.
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Gusty Bausch (photo acc contern)
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We don't have to remind that the rider who ows some of his talents and skills from his father continously chooses to match up with the best riders in the world and therefore mostly competes abroad, especially in Belgium. Last season, where Drucker also won in very impressive manner the tough event of Leudelange, he was one of the best U23 riders over there with a victory in the Superprestige race in Hoogstraten, a second place in the Superprestige and the GVA Trophy overall classifications, a second position in the world-cup race in Hoogerheide, on the course of the 2009 world championships or a fifth place in the world-cup of Lievin and a 7th one in the European championships. Drucker will face in Contern his rival from the National championships, Gusty Bausch who, unlike the rider from ACC Contern, knows a very fine season opening with a victory in Brouch and recently a nice 34th ranking at the world cup of Kalmthout. The multiple national champion, second in January 2008, has always performed very well on the tough course of Contern, finishing 5th both in 2004 and 2005. Let's hope that numerous other Luxemburgish riders will show up for the race, just like evergreen Pascal Triebel or the National Junior champion Vincent Dias Dos Santos, who knows a very convincing entry to the elite level in this early season.
Next to Niels Albert, Dieter Vanthourenhout surely is one of the leaders of the new Belgian cross generation.
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Dieter Vanthourenhout (photo: website Dieter Vanthourenhout)
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The nephew of Sven, who has often competed against Jempy Drucker in the youth categories, was National champion in the novice category in 2001 and with the juniors in 2003. He has also been two times 3rd overall in the Superprestige series and finished 9th at the World championships 2002 on home soil in Zolder. In the U23 category, Vanthourenhout had a very difficult job against the trio Boom, Albert and Stybar, but nevertheless earned some spectacular victories in Pijnacker, Koppenberg, Hasselt and Loenhout, plus 4 podiums in world cup races. The final overall victory in the GVA Trophy and a second position overall in the world cup 2006/2007 show his very constant performing. Last year, Vanthourenhout has done his first season with the elites and had as major result a 7th position in the National championships and some podium places in second category events. But again, he was very regular throughout the season and finished on a 21st place in the UCI world rankings. This winter, the Palmans rider confirms
his arrival among the very best of the world, since he finished 3rd in Ardoie (behind Albert and Page) and Harderwijk (behind Al and Pauwels) as well as 4th in Dudzele (behind Vantornout, S. Vanthourenhout and Commeyne) and Erpe-Mere (behind Albert, S. Vanthourenhout and Vantornout). The young rider also didn't fail in the two majour events of the season begin, finishing an excellent 10th in Ruddervoorde and 16th in the recent world-cup race of Kalmthout.
His team-mate Tom Van den Bosch showed himself last season as King of the B-races for his first year among the elites, since he won
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Tom Van den Bosch (photo: acc contern)
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no less than 9 elite without contract races and also took an impressive number of other good placings. But Van den Bosch also competed in the bigger races where he took among others 24th position in the first Superprestige race, 20th in Hamme-Zogge, 19th in Hasselt or 17th in Hoogstraaten. The Palmans rider also was among the good surprises in the event of the ACC Contern in Niederanven, where he was in the leading group during most of the race and finally finished in 6th place. He was a very good rider in the youth categories with a silver medal in the junior Belgian championships and a bronze medal in the military world championships. For his last season as en espoir in 2007, Van den Bosch finished 8th overall in the Superprestig and 15th in the world championships in Hooglede-Gits. This year, the Belgian rider seems to be much stronger since he was 8th in the race at Lebbeke, two time 9th in the first category events of Schmerikon (Switzerland) and Dottignies as well as 15th in Ruddervoorde.
Jim Aernouts is another rider from Palmans and he was Belgian MTB National champion in the novice category as well as National Junior cyclo-cross title winner. He won an impressive number of big races in this category last year, such as Harderwijk, Ruddervoorde, St Michielsgesteel, Hasselt, Koksijde, Essen and Hamme-Zogge. For his last year as junior, he was one of the big favourites at the Treviso world championships, but didn't fulfill the expectations and, of course, wants to have his revenge in the U23 category. Aernouts still uses MTB in the summer to prepare the cyclo-cross season rather than road races and had a good season begin by finishing second in the elite event of Hamburg, sandwiched between Sickmüller and Birkenfeld. Aernouts also was fourth in the U23 races of Neerpelt and Stabroek and he took 12th place in Ruddervoorde as well as ninth in the U23 world-cup race of Kalmthout just a few days ago.
From the Sunweb team, Jan Verstraeten was at first renowned as a good road rider, signing wins notably in Circuit du Hainaut,
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Jan Verstraeten (photo acc contern)
Wesley Van der Linden (photo acc contern)
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or Tour de Liège in the year 2000, as well as some nice placings in Grand-prix Wielerrevue, Brussel – Opwijk, Grand-prix Jeff Scherens or Mémorial Samyn. He continued showing strong performances on the road like his victory in the Grand-prix Etienne de Wilde in 2005, but focused more and more on cyclo-cross, where he was Fidea team-mate of Jempy Drucker during some time. Vertraeten regularely finishes in the Top 10 at the big races like in Diegem (7th in 2005), Wetzikon (8th in 2005), Hoogstraten (7th in 2006), St Michielsgesteel (10th in 2007) or Zonnebeke (6th in 2008) and Hasselt (7th in 2007). He has also won the event in Kayl in 2006 and last year, he finished 2nd of the "revange" for the Belgian championships that take always place on the day after in Otegem, behind Sven Nys, but ahead of Vantornout and Vanthourenhout. Jan Verstraeten has begun this season in good fashion by finishing 2nd of the interantional cyclo-cross in Czech's Olomouc, behind Martin Bina, but ahead of Dlask and Kevin Pauwels.
He has also finished 12th in Dottignies and 23rd in Ruddervoorde.
His team-mate Wesley Van der Linden nearly was world champion down in 2003, beaten only by Enrico Franzoi in the U23 category in Monopoly. He had dominated the whole season with victories in Hoogherheide, Lievin, Kalmthout, Aalter, Frankfurt, St-Michielsgesteel and Ruddervorde. The Belgian National champion of the years 2003 and 2004 also dominated the following season with wins in Diegem, Gavere, St. Michielsgesteel, Guipuzcoa, Loenhout and Hoogstraten, but, after a deceiving race in the world championships of Pontchateau, where he finished tenth after having been favourite number 1, Van der Linden decided to switch onto the road with nice performances in races such as Paris-Corrèze, Tour of Austria or Tour de l'Avenir (owner of the best climber jersey). In 2007, the rider from Sunweb decided to come back into cyclo-cross with a victory in Vendin and Drongen-Baale as well as a second place in Le Quesnoy. Van der Linden wasn't at his best in Niederanven, where he finished only 17th, but did it better
several weeks later when he won the international event of Ispaster, ahead of the best Spanish riders. This winter so far, a 6th place in the cyclo-cross of Dottignies is noted as his best performance.
Just like Dieter Vanthourenhout, Tim Van Nuffel also was a rider with very good results in the youth categories, like for example a second place
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Tim Van Nuffel (photo Team Easypay)
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at the novices Belgian championships or 14 victories in the junior category, where he also finished 7th and 10th of the World championships of Middlefart and Poprad respectively. The series continued in the U23 category with 3 victories in Superprestige races (Ruddervoorde, Asper-Gavere and Harnes) as well as a win in the Wetzikon world cup. He has also finished 3rd of the world championships 2000 in Wielsbeke and 7th of the Monopoli world championships. Among the elite riders, Van Nuffel showed out to be very strong on difficult courses like in Koppenberg (5th in 2004), in St. Michielsgesteel (7th in 2004) or in Leudelange (3rd in 2004). The Easypay rider has also lined up numerous times in Germany and Switzerland, gaining a considerable number of top placings (Hamburg, Magstadt, Frankfurt, Berlin, Ruti, Schmerikon, Sion). Last season, he finished second of the elite without contract National championships in Hofstade, narrowly beaten by Jan Soetens.
The rider from Revor, Ben Berden, makes as much headlines with his declarations or his look than with his results, although they have been considerable throughout his career.
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Ben Berden(photo acc contern)
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Ben Berden was 3rd in the junior world championships in Koksijde in 1994 and Belgian National U23 champion the year after. At that time, he often lined up in Luxemburg like in Fond-de-Gras (3rd), Leudelange (3rd) or Muhlenbach (1st and 2nd among others). But he got to another level soon and began signing important victories in first-class races (Zurich-Waid, Eernegem, Oostmalle, Wortegem-Petegem, Huijbergen, Heerlen, Harderwijk and of course two times the world-cup in Koksijde). He also took numerous poduim place (Belgian championships, Kalmthout, Torino, Milano, Asper-Gavere, …). But since 2005 and after an injury and some dark off-the-sport affairs, Ben Berden never came back to his previous level, even if he is still good nowadays for some Top 10 results like 9th in Neerpelt, 8th in Dudzele, 6th in Harderwijk, 5th in Dottignies and Lebbeke just for this young season.
During this last years, the German National champion used to show his jersey in Contern, like Sickmüller and Birkenfeld, first and third respectively 12 months ago. This year, the job is for Malte Urban.
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Malte Urban (photo: Team Focus Alpecin)
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The rider form Alpecin-Focus is one of the major caracters in German cyclo-cross over the last years and in January 2008, he took his third National title after 2000 and 2004 on his home course in Herford. Already as junior, Urban showed strong abilities off-road with a 5th place in the world championships, but after his first national championships win in the elite category, he opted for a road career. As member of the teams Coast and Bianchi, he participated alongside Jan Ullrich in races like Giro d'Italia, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix or Tour de Suisse. But the end of the Bianchi squad, in 2003, meant also the end of the road career for Malte Urban. He returned into MTB and cyclo-cross with lots of national success and also some international references like a 15th place at the world championships in Zeddam or a second place behind Groenendaal, last year in Hamburg. The German has prepared his cross season on the road, where he took the victory in the criterium of Gütersloh. He will show up in Contern with two of his team-mates, Finn Heitmann and Stepahn Sprinke. Heitmann was U23 German National champion 2003 ahead of Paul Voss and made a good entry into the elite level last year when he took three victores against the best German riders. Heitmann finished at the foot of the podium in the National Championships in Herford. Stephan Sprinke also was among the best U23 riders in Germany where he made some podium places. Last year, in his first elite season, Sprinke finished 7th in both international events of Hamburg and he took a victory on the road this year in Sennestadt.
On the French side, we can count on one of the good surprises of the season begin, namely Nicolas Bazin. The rider from Differdange-Apiflo has made sensation this last weeks by finishing fourth of the first leg of the French Challenge National in Montrevel, shortly behind Mourey, Chainel and Belgy, and then taking 22nd position (2nd best French rider) in the world cup in Kalmthout last week-end, just behind Groenendaal and Rob Peeters. Bazin also finished second behind David Willemsens earlier this month in the international event of Exeter, in Great Britain.
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Renaud Vaubourg (photo acc contern)
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This is the first time that the young rider, who combines ATB (3rd of a French National championships, participation in world-cup events) and road during the summer, performs internationnaly, but he is far from being unknown in the French National circuit. In 2004, Bazin finished second of a stage in the "cyclo-cross stage race" of Val d'Orge and he has also ended up several times on podium places, 2006 in Carnetin (2nd behind Pagnier), in Hénin-Beaumont (3rd behind Mourey and Gadret), in Marle (3rd behind Chainel and Bianco) and Moussy-le-Vieux (2nd behind Mourey), as well as 2007 in Sarrebourg (3rd behind Mourey and Chainel), in Dugny (2nd behind Chainel) and in Saint-Quentin (winner ahead of Belgy).
Renaud Vaubourg is among the best riders of the Lorraine region and has won for the second time in a row the race in Saint-Dié-les-Vosges about a week ago. Last season, the U23 regional champion finished 2rd in Briey and 2nd in Saint-Nabord, two races won by Steve Chainel. Vaubourg also paricipated in the U23 Challenge National (6th in Sarrebourg, 4th in Quelneuc and in Cap d’Agde) and in the National championships in Pontchateau (8ème). For his first showing at the race of the ACC Contern in Niederanven, Vaubourg made a very good impression, chasing for a long time just behind the lead group and finishing 10th overall and 2nd best U23 rider of the race.
The world cup race in Tabor being held on the same day than our cyclo-cross in Contern, the Czech delegation will be
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Jan Skarnitzl (photo acc contern)
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a little bit smaller than the other years. Our friend Leos Chvojka nevertheless has promised to send Jan Skarnitzl to Luxemburg, a young and talented rider that we have discovered twelve months ago in Niederanven, where he rode in a second group for a long time after showing a very strong finish and ending up in 8th position as best U23 rider. Skarnitzl is one of the riders who manage to combine MTB and cyclo-cross with good results, since he finished 9th during the MTB world championships 2007 in Fort Williams and 6th at the junior cyclo-cross world championships as well as 5th, 6th and 7th in the U23 European championships. This summer, Skarnitzl was second in the student world championships and completed for the first time the elite world-cup circuit with two Top 30 finishes, in Schladming (Austria) and Mont Saint-Anne (Canada). He started the cyclo-cross season at his ease but recently showed improved form with a 6th and a 3rd position (behind Bina and Ausbuher in Ceska Lipka) in races of the Toi-Toi Cup, competing against the best Czech riders. Skarnitzl will be joined by Ondrej Zeleny, who also did well in Ceska Lipka two weeks ago, where he took 6th place. Zeleny is also mountain-bike racer and participated in world cups ans worls championships during the last years. Some other usual contenders of the Toi-Toi-Cup could also show up in Contern, namely Lukas Sablik, Tomas Satinsky and Michal Benda
In addition to this, some riders form the border region and from Flanders will line up in Contern to participate in the race, as well as some last-minute contracts.
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