5th GP de la Commune de Contern / 22ème GP Comat - 25.10.2009 - Contern

Report:

The 35th edition of the international cyclo-cross of the ACC Contern won't be in the history books as the most glorious one. Despite the bright automn weather conditions, there weren't in fact too many spectators on the traditionnal course around the rue de Moutfort in Contern few spectators in Contern and the only moment when they really cheered was when Gusty Bausch and Pascal Triebel battled out for the best Luxemburgish rider title at the very end. Of course, there were lots of other things to do on this October Sunday in Luxembourg, where the shops and the automn trade fair were open for shopping addicts and where there were several more sports events, including football matches and a basket-ball match on the same day in Contern. Of course, the rider list was less attractive than in previous years, because the almost legendary Koppenberg cross had attracted the best riders with big prize money. But all this shouldn't decrease in any way the value of Kamil Ausbuher's victory, the former world champion and top-favourite who lined up in Contern at the head of a strong Czech armada and had to battle hard for the victory against his country-mates, especially young and promising Ondrej Bambula. 5ème Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern: 31 riders out of 6 counriea lined up for the 5th Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern, wich was the 35th international cyclo-cross 31 riders at the start, Ausbuher at the front organized by the ACC Contern. The main question of the day was of course: who could possibly prevent the Czech riders from winning, with Kamil Ausbuher as main favourite, the man who finished 6th of the opening world cup round in Treviso and particularely likes fast and technical circuits like the one today in Contern. The rain of the last few days hasn't been enough to provide some mud, but it has rendered the grass passages very slippery. The riders were very fast on the course today, turning in approximately the same time than last year's winner Dieter Vanthourenhout, despite the fact that a new, tight-designed corner just ahead of a short, steep climb forced them to get off their bike more often than 12 months ago. As of the first lap, the favourites took control of the race with Ausbuher putting the hammer down in the meadow, followed two more Czech riders first time in the meadow as well as Belgians Pieter Ghyllebert and Gianni Denolf. Just like usual, Gusty Bausch also knew a fast start and after one lap, he was in 8th position together with young Vincent Dias Dos Santos in one of his first races on international elite level. Benn Wurth and Tom Flammang were also able to hang onto the leading group after one lap, whereas good old Pascal Triebel completely missed his start, being involved in a crash ahead of him, and he was forced to ride at the back of the peloton. The Czech riders didn't wait long to increase the speed and on the second lap, Ausbuher, Kasek, Kyzivat and Bambula were leading the race, several seconds ahead of a group of three composed by Nicolas Bazin, Ghyllebert and Denolf. Then followed a Czech duo (Bambula and Ausbuher) ... ... followed by another one (Kyzivat and Kasek) Sascha Wagner, the winner of the race in Dippach, Dias Dos Santos, Gusty Bausch and Dany Lacroix, another Belgian from the Easypay team. Pascal Triebel, on his side, he was chasing hard and had moved up several places in the meantime, passing Olivier Laterza behind the group Wurth/Flammang, around thirty seconds late on the leaders. On the third lap, David Kasek was leading the Czech armada, whereas Gusty Bausch had joined the second group with Bazin, Ghyllebert and Denolf. Vincent Dias Dos Santos was beginning to feel the strain and Pascal Triebel was still moving up. He was now riding together with Kaj Slenter, who also had a bad start and was aiming the place of best U23 rider, held at the moment by Dias Dos Santos. The following laps were quite similar, with only the gaps increasing and Pascal Triebel going stronger and stronger, he was now riding in 10th place and was becoming a threat for Gusty Bausch concerning the position of Best Luxemburgish rider. But on the tough course in Contern, the riders were constantly at the limit and the fast race was beginning to take its toll. Nicolas Bazin, who is suffering from an injury at his foot after a recent crash, was the first prominent victim: he was dropped by Wagner and Ghyllebert and gave up a little bit later. Vincent Dias Dos Santos, who was suffering from pain in the back, also had to put his Sascha Wagner, 5th and first Non-Czech feet to the ground, whereas Gusty Bausch was also suffering. The Luxemburgish champ has been ill all week and while he was still holding on the seventh place behind Wagner, Denolf and Ghyllebert, he knew that the second half of the race would be fairly difficult for him. At the head of the race, the Czech riders were battling hard and after an unsucessfull acceleration from Kaseck, Ondrej Bambual and Kamil Ausbuher finally managed to break away in the sixth lap, followed closely by Vladimir Kyzivad. Bambula attacked again in the next lap, leaving Ausbuher a few meters behind him. But the former world champion is a very experimented rider, he didn't wast too much energy to bridge up immediately, but closed the gap little by little during the following lap. In the chase of the two leaders, Kasek had in the meantime also joined Kyzivat again Pascal Triebel and Kaj Slenter Sascha Wagner was now riding in a solid fifth place as first non-Czech rider, since he had dropped Denolf, Ghyllebert and Bausch shortly after mid-race, whereas Pascal Triebel was in ninth position, still together with Dutchman Kaj Slenter. A little bit further back, we found some more Luxemburgish riders like Benn Wurth and Tom Flammang and also German Sven Kuschla as second best U23 rider. The penultimate lap brought some more action in the race: Kamil Ausbuher dropped his young oppenent Bambula, David Kasek also broke away from Kyzivat for third place and Pascal Triebel was able to pass a suffering Gusty Bausch for best Luxemburgish rider, even if he was himself Kamil Ausbuher wins the 5th GP de la Commune de Contern left behind by Kaj Slenter, with whom he had ridden for most of the race. Kamil Ausbuher finally wins the 5th Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern in solo style, 16 seconds ahead of Ondrej Bambula and 45 seconds behind Bambula's team-mate from Cyklo-Team Tabor, David Kasek. Vladimir Kyzivat takes fourth position a little bit more than a minute back, whereas Sascha Wagner is the best non-Czech rider in 5th position, but more than 2 minutes behind the winner. After a very hard effort in the last lap, Pascal Triebel managed to come around Slenter again and finished ahead of the best U23 rider in 8th position as first Luxemburgish rider. 22nd Grand-prix COMAT: Just like last year, the participation in the younger categories wasn't too bad with 26 condenders lining up in total, including about 10 foreign riders. And they were dominating in two of the three races of the 22nd Grand-prix Comat with a French victory in the women's classification and a Czech win in the Junior race, while it was a home rider standing at the top of the novice result. The races had all it takes for a good cyclo-cross race with some minor crashes, frequent changes in situation and suspense until the end for the podium places. But in the junior category, one rider immediately showed that he was stronger than the others: Czech Michael Boros, 9th of the opening world-cup race in Treviso, Italy, Michael Borros strongest in the junior category was the top-favourite of the race and attacked already in the opening lap, with only Lex Reichling being able to follow him in the first technical portions. After half a lap of racing, the duo had 50 meters advantage on another Czech rider, Matej Vala, whereas a small group with Thiltges, Feiereisen, Gleis and the two novice riders Wollerhaupt and Fritsch followed a little bit further back. But things didn't turn out well for Lex Reichling even before the end of the first loop, when he did a painfull crash on an asphalt section, just as he left the meadow through a very slippery downhill corner. The rider from Tooltime Preizerdaul quickly got up and onto his bike, but Boros had already slipped away and taken a handfull of seconds advantage. It became soon obvious that Reichling wasn't able to bridge up again and in the second lap, he was already thirty seconds late on Boros, while he was still holding off the next chasers Matej Vala and Scott Thiltges. Matej Vala abd Scott Thiltges The young rider from Alzingen had bridged up to the one from Tabor, leaving Ralph Gleis behind him as well as Kevin Feiereisen, who had finished fourth of this race last year. On the third lap, Lex Reichling had again bad luck, when he had a mechanical problem on his bike, just a few meters behind the pits, and he was forced to stop for more than a minute in order to repare it. He should have been the most dangerous opponent for Boros today, but had to resume the race far behind in seventh position only, preparing for a long and vain chase behind the podium places. At the front of the race, the situation was clear: Boros had a solid lead and the young rider of the Cyklo Team Tabor, the place to host the world championships in January, controled the gap during the rest of the race. After having been in the lead from the beginning to the end, Michael Boros wins the 22nd Grand-prix Comat with around 40 seconds advantage on the next chasers. For the other podium places place, the battle lasted until the very end and in a tight sprint, Scott Thiltges took second with a very narrow margin on Vala. Sven Fritsch wins the novice race Fourth position is for the most unfortunate man of the day, Lex Reichling, who was around 30 seconds late on the podium places, while Feiereisen, Gleis and Berns are all more than two minutes back. In the novice race, the battle for the win was also spoiled by a crash. German rider Lucas Wollerhaupt, who rides for the team of former world champion Rolf Wolfshohl, had the best start, just behind the juniors Thiltges and Vala, but he crashed in the same corner where Lex Reichling lost some of his knee skin. Wollerhaupt needed a few moments to recover from the painfull incident, got back onto his bike but eventually finished in third position, 46 seconds down on the winner. After Wollerhaupts crash, it was Sven Fritsch who took the lead of the race, but the victory wasn't in the pocket yet. The danger in fact came from another German named Felix Drumm. He had a very bad start, riding in 17th position only after the first downhill in the woods, Perrine Philippe was best lady but moved up in a spectacular way after that. After two laps, he had bridged up to Fritsch, but the latter still had some power left in his legs and dropped the German again to take win in the novice category with 22 seconds advantage on Drumm. Unlike the two other categories, the women's race eventually lacked of suspense. In the first lap already, French rider Perrine Philippe was able to leave her only opponent Christine Kovelter behind her, despite a very bad start. After half a lap of racing, the two ladies were indeed at the two last positions of the peloton, before trying to pass some of their male opponents in the common race. Slowly but surely, Philippe found her rythm and moved up in the field, at the end, she crossed the finish line in 7th position of the novice classification, three minutes down on the winner but more than 5 minutes ahead on the second woman, Christine Kovelter.

GP de la Commune de Contern cyclo-cross 2009 >>