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Steve Chainel has managed a perfect score this week-end in all the senses of the word. He has won on Saturday the regional race in Cornimont, next to his home, before taking the victory on Sunday in Contern, making it his second win out of two starts in the cyclocross organized by the ACC and his fifth victory out of five starts in Luxemburg. Impressive. However, the opponents were strong in Contern and, if the Czech riders were less strong due to different circumstances, the Belgian stars showed a huge opposition to the Frenchman ... at least until mid-race. In the junior category, on the other hand, the Czech contenders dominated the race and were stronger than the other pre-race favourites, the Sweeck brothers from Belgium.
6th Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern:
46 riders were at the start of the Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern, more than ever in recent years,
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many riders at the start
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and their quality promised a very entertaining race. In fact, at the world cup event in Plzen, there hasn't been any U23 race and, except world champion Jouffroy, some of the best riders in the world in this category showed up in Contern to match up against the more experienced riders. All the stars previously announced eventually lined up, the only notable absence was the one of the sick Jérôme Juncker, one of the in-form Luxemburgish contenders. There also was a reasonnable amount of public, given the fact that the shops were open on this particular Sunday and attracting potential clients with huge bargains. It was a splendid automn day with lots of sun and the course was just a little bit muddy, making it very slippery.
As of the first metres, the tricky lap took its toll and there were several crashes, including for two of the pre-race favourites, Rob Peeters and Lubomir Petrus. After an injury at the beginning of the season, this was the first race for the U23 Czech National champion and, due to the UCI rules, he had to start at the back of the peloton and was thus stuck behind the traffic jam in the first lap, just like the best Luxemburgish riders, Vincent Dias Dos and Gusty Bausch
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Big lead group
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At the head of the race Tom Meeusen and Vincent Bastaens had taken the best start, the two Fidea riders showed the rhythm in the first lap with their compatriot Vinnie Braet, hoping to bring favourite Chainel into difficulty. The rider from Remiremont had complained about light headaches in the morning, before starting the trip towards Contern, and did not appear at his best at the beginning of the race, lying in ninth position when they appoached the strategic sector in the meadow for the first time.
But the heat of the race quickly dissipated the bad feelings and, little by little, Chainel moved up the positions, being in a second group at about fifty meters at the conclusion of the first lap, in company of the former junior world champion, Joeri Adams, of German rider Meisen, U23 Belgian champion Jim Aernouts and of the surprise of the day, Jan Denuwelaere. The runner-up of Aernouts to the latest Belgian championships had not been announced before the race but he was well there, with strong legs. A little bit more behind, Jan Verstraeten was fighting to return, followed by Van den Bosch, Boden, Berden and, much further, Rob Peeters. In the wheel of the Fidea rider, the young Lex Reichling had taken in excellent start and he was for the moment best Luxemburger, while Vincent Dias Dos Santos passed around position thirteen, in
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Chainel leading
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company of the unlucky Lubomir Petrus. Behind Triebel and Schlechter, Gusty Bausch was already nearly one minute late, together with Swedisch road racer Jonas Ljungblad, and his race looked already compromised after only one lap.
As of the second turn, Chainel put the pressure on to return to the front of the race, taking Adams with him, and they were thus five in front: Baestaens, Meeusen, Chainel, Adams and Braet. But Verstraeten, Denuwelaere, Aernouts and Meisen were not far behind and they also bridged up a little bit later, while unfortunate Rob Peeters saw his return delayed by a chain break. Petrus moved up through the field meanwhile, riding around position 15 now with Ben Berden, while Dias Dos Santos was about to catch up with Reichling and while Gusty Bausch had passed Triebel and Schlechter, more at the back. At the head of the race, the position changes were frequent with many attacks. Steve Chainel placed an acceleration in the fourth lap, riding up a steep hill on his bicycles where the other riders had to dismount. If he was reeled in a little bit later, his attack nevertheless caused the loss of Jim Aernouts. Among the pre-race favourites, the winner of the U23 Superprestige in Ruddervoorde at wasn't in his best day and he had to let the strongest riders slip away.
With the approach of the half-race, they were thus still eight at the front,
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Braet and Denuwelaere chasing
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leaving some suspense about the exit of the race. Steve Chainel, Vincent Baestaens, Vinnie Braet, Joeri Adams, Tom Meeusen, Jan Denuwelaere and Jan Verstraeten had indeed to accept the return of Rob Peeters, despite all his troubles, while Marcel Meisen was only a few metres behind and all the others had lost some ground. During the fifth lap, surprising Jan Denuwelaere took the lead of the race, gaining a few metres of advantage on the others. Only a fourteenth place in Namur states as reference for him at the beginning of this season and he wasn't expected as strong, but he stated later that the lack of results was due to bad luck and that his form is very good. With Chainel and the Fidea boys chasing, he was reeled in however, leaving the way open for an attack of the Frenchman. Only former junior European champion Vincent Bastaens could follow Chainel during the sixth lap when he accelerated on a course which is taylor-made for him, combining technical parts with very physical ones. Denuwelaere and Braet were the first chasers within a few metres, while Meeusen, Adams and Peeters, who had left some strength during the first half of the race, showed some 20 seconds of delay. Hoping for a return of his team-mates, Baestaens
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Peeters trying to move up
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didn't take any turns at the front, encouraging Chainel to go even harder.
Crossing the steep hill on his bike once again, the second of the last French championships took off for good, leaving the winner of the junior race at the World-cup in Aigle behind him. Quickly, Steve Chainel opened a gap of a handfull of seconds and then he rode lap after lap with impressive regularity. On the physical parts, the experienced road-racer was clearly the strongest and on the paved uphill passages, he was able to push a bigger gear than his opponents. Behind him, Baestaens was caught by the astonishing Vinnie Braet, which had not yet ridden at this level for this season, whith Peeters and Joeri Adams not far behind. Tom Meeusen, who has to weeks of an intesive road training camp in his legs, fell a little bit back and found himself in company of Verstraeten, while Meisen was delayed by mechanical and Lubomir Petrus had marked his return into the Top 10, barely one minute behind. Vincent Dias Dos Santos was riding around the twentieth position as best Luxemburger, with
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Dias Dos Santos best Luxemburger
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a comfortable advance on Gusty Bausch, who seemed however better and better as the laps went on, moving up some places and riding together with reigning junior world champion, Tomas Paprstka.
If the victory of Steve Chainel certain, the two last laps still provided some suspense for the next places, due to the fact that according to the UCI rules, the race was ten minutes longer to what is usual at U23 and regional elite races. The young Vincent Baestaens and Joeri Adams had some trouble with that and, after having animated the race during 50 minutes, they fell back in the classification, whereas Rob Peeters had found his second breath and returned increasingly strong from the back, just like the excellent Marcel Meisen. Further behind, Gusty Bausch also showed at tremendous final, leaving Paprstka behind and chasing down Dias Dos Santos at high speed, while everlasting Pascal Triebel had taken over the place of third Luxemburger to the expense of Lex Reichling.
After 10 laps and a little more than an hour of race, Steve Chainel won
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Chainel wins
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6th Grand-prix de la Commune de Contern solo, 19 seconds in front of Jan Denuwelaere who resisted in second place until the end. 5 additional seconds later, Rob Peeters took the third step of the podium before collapsing on the ground, exhausted after an hour of uninterrupted chase. He succeeded in-extremis to pass Vinnie Braet, who was best U23 rider of the race in front of Baestaens, one of the most aggressive contenders of the day. One minute behind the winner, Tom Meeusen won the sprint for the sixth place ahead of Marcel Meisen, whereas the title of best Luxemburger was also battled out in a sprint. Gusty Bausch had indeed made the junction with Dias Dos Santos in the last lap, but the clever rider from Tetange had succeeded in remaining in front of him in the last technical part of the course, leaving no chance to the multiple national champion on the road to the line. The two best Luxemburgers took positions 21 and 22 in the race results, only four minutes behind the winner, a very remarkable performanc, given the level of the field recorded this afternoon at Contern.
23th Grand-prix COMAT:
As much for the elite race, the peloton of the 23rd Grand-prix COMAT was impressive: 48 riders at the start, among them a national team from the Czech republic, eager to battle it out with the two best Belgians at the beginning of this season and preparing for the European championships in Frankfurt, within two weeks.
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Jakub Skala in the lead
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With 28 juniors, 15 novices and 5 ladies at the start, among them a majority of Luxemburgers, the participation had doubled compared to former years. Suspense for the victory however didn't last too long because as of the first lap, the legendary blue jersey with vertical stripes of the Czech armada showed up at the head of the race. Jakub Skala was indeed leading from the start, taking about fifteen seconds to his compatriot Tomas Medek in second position. These two riders occupy the second and the third place overal at the Toi-Toi Cup in the home country and, in the absence of the sick national champion Vojtech Nipl, they took control of the race in order to put the Sweeck brothers in difficulty. Because the two Belgians have had a bad start and, if Diether was to be found in third
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Laurens Sweeck and Medek chasing
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position a few lengths behind Medek, bis brother Laurens was much further behind in company of Czech Republic's Bohata, constrained to chase hard in order to return to the front. It was him who was the pre-race favourite with already three wins in his bag, among them the Superprestige in Ruddervoorde. A little bit further behind, the member of the UC Dippach, Massimo Morabito, showed an excellent race begin and rode together with Tomas Svoboda and Petr Hampl, two other riders from the East. In the novice category, Luxembourg's David Klein occupied the head of the race, but Ivan Centrone and Remy Mertz were not far behind and did not acknowledge themselves yet as beaten, while Suzie Godart had already taken the an option on the victory in the women's race, by distancing Christine Kovelter as of the first lap.
With an impressive regularity, Jakub Skala turned around at the head of the race, while Laurens Sweeck had left Bohata
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Sprint chez les débutants
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behind and was about to pass his brother and chase down Medek, still in second position. Morabito still battled with the other Czechs, while Sven Fritsch, Jimmy Reinert and Ralph Gleis were further behind around fifteenth position and two short minutes behind Morabito. In the novice category, David Klein had lost ground and was now in third position, behind Ivan Centrone and Remy Mertz which were to fight out the victory in a sprint. In a very tight battle, Belgian rider Mertz took the top ahead of the member from SAF Zéisseng, jumping to the line in a last effort and with half a bike length advantage on Centrone. David Klein took the third place at about thirty seconds, while Ken Muller, fourth, showed already nearly two minutes of delay. Ninth in the common classification with the boys, Suzie Godart won the ladies' rankings of the Grand-prix COMAT for the fourth time, after 1997,1998 and 1999.
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Belle prestation de Morabito
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She preceded Christine Kovelter by two minutes and a half while British Claire Thomas, several times champion of Scotland on the road, had to be satisfied with the fourth place behind Fabienne Schauss.
Meanwhile, Laurens Sweeck continued his chasing and had caught Tomas Medek, immediately taking the lead and trying to cath the leader of the race. But Skala did not panic, he controled the gap to his ease and finished the race with still a comfortable margin. Czech Republic's Jakub Skala thus won the junior race in the 23rd Grand-prix COMAT solo, 9 seconds in front of his compatriot Tomas Medek who beat Laurens Sweeck in a very tight sprint for the second place. The Italian Massimo Morabito finished the race at an excellent 7th position as a first FSCL riders, 2 minutes behind the winner but more than two minutes and half in front of Sven Fritsch, 13th and first Luxembourger in the classification.
External links:
pictures on bofferding.lu
video report on rtl.lu
video by just4fun.lu (elite)
video by just4fun.lu (GP Comat)
pictures by just4fun.lu
report and pictures on tageblatt.lu
report and pictures on cxmagazine.com
report on dailypeloton.com
report on sport.be(cyclocross.info)
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