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The level of the 37th edition of the International Cyclo-cross the ACC Contern might be a bit less attractive on paper than the previous year. In fact, the World Cup race in Tabor attracts the world's best riders in all categories in the Czech Republic for this penultimate weekend of October. But the "Best of the Rest" will be present in Contern and promises a balanced race, with the Belgians in the spotlights.
They will be many again at the start in the rue de Moutfort in Contern, led by the riders from TELNET-FIDEA, including Rob Peeters. During the month of September this year, he chose to travel with Bart Wellens and many other Europeans to the United States, where the big races in the season are much earlier than here. Rob Peeters started there with a bang in the most important race of overseas, the
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Rob Peeters
Photo: Telenet-Fidea
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race after dark in Las Vegas The Belgian made huge impression on the last lap and nearly hit the jackpot at the end after breaking away from the lead group. But he was caught again in extremis on the very last straight line by Christian Heule and the the eventual winner, U23 world champion Lars Van der Haar. After some more second, third and fourth places on American soil, Peeters returned to his home country where he continued to produce good results: 9th in the race in Ardooie won by world champion Stybar, 12th in Laarne and 15th of the Superprestige Ruddervoorde. He was one of the victims of the dominating trio Stybar, Albert and Boom in the younger categories, where he collected 13 podium spots in first-class U23 races, among them a third place in the European championships in Huijbergen behind Albert and Stybar and a silver medal in the Belgian National championships behind the same Niels Albert. In 2007, the cousin of Wilfried Peeters signed his first elite victory in Denain and, after becoming professionnal rider with Landbouwkrediet the following year, he took his biggest win in St-Niklaas, ahead of Simunek and Vanthourenhout. Three victories in Differdange, Rutland and Lanarvily as well as a fourth place in the championships of Belgium are on his account in the 2009/2011 season, while last year was marked especially by a victory in Zonnebeke ahead of Stybar, Nys and Vantornout, nothing less than this. There has also been a second place in Stribro in the home town of the world champion, a third place in the cyclo-cross in Contern and Top 10 rankings in Superprestige and GVA events.
Teammate Joeri Adams is the actual Belgian U23 champion and this is not his first big victory since he claimed exceptionnal
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Joeri Adams
Photo: Telenet-Fidea
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results from as of his early age. He was already National champion of Belgium for novices and became the hero of a whole nation when he took the junior world champion title in 2007, at home in Hooglede-Gits, before the day was spoiled somewhat for his country by the defeat of Niels Albert against Lars Boom in the afternoon. After two world-cup wins (Pijnacker, Hofstade) and victories in Asper-Gavere and Vorselaar in the junior category, Joeri Adams turned his back to cyclo-cross a bit and concentrated more on road-racing. As a member of the Rabobank team, he took amongst others a stage win at the Volta a Lleida and was 10th overall at the Vuelta Ciclista a Leon. Last winter, Adams came back strong off-road, wins in the National championships and on thr Koppenberg as well as podiums at the European Championships in Frankfurt, in Namur and Baal (GVA) in Zonhoven and Hoogstraten (Superprestige) and at the World Cup Hoogerheide. After joining the elite category, Joeri Adams changed his team as he landed a professional contract with Telenet-Fidea and devoted himself exclusively to the cyclo-cross. The young Belgian confirmed his ambitions for this season as he finished the former World Cup race in Kalmthout in tenth position and he also finished in the Top 10 in Erpe-Mere and in Ardooie, only a few days ago.
Jim Aernouts was the U23 Belgian champion ahead of Adams.
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Jim Aernouts
Photo: Sunweb-Revor
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He has had a great 2009/2010 season with seven podium finishes in World Cup or Superprestige and GVA Trophy events, results that earned him the second place overall in the last two series. On a few occasions, Aernouts managed to break the supremacy of his elder Tom Meeusen to win, among others, the World Cup in Koksijde and the Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle. In the junior category already, he was twice champion of Belgium and won the cyclo-cross races of Harderwijk, Ruddervoorde, St. Michielsgestel, Hasselt, Koksijde, Essen and Hamme-Zogge. The 2010/2011 season was his last as an espoir and he took the opportunity to snatch some nice wins, including the overall ranking of the Superprestige and individual victories in Ruddervoorde, Hamme-Zogg, Hasselt, Lille, Middelkerke and the elite race of Stabroek. Aernouts had to take the difficult step into this category this season and signed as teammate of Pauwels and Vantornout in the Sunweb-Revor team. For the first races, he finished third among others in Harderwijk, behind the Dutch Van der Haar and Eising, and took an outstanding 11th place in the Superprestige Ruddervoorde, won by Niels. Aernouts is no stranger to Contern since he took the fifth place in 2008, fresh from junior category, while he was slightly disappointing last year when he ended 13th. He will be joined by team-mate Mathias Bossuyt, who has already recorded a series of podium finishes at the Belgian Championships in the novice and junior categories, on the mountain bike as well as on the cyclo-cross bike. Last season, he came to the espoirs category, where he finished sixth in the national race and ninth in Hamme-Zogge. This winter, Bossuyt started strongly with a second place in a smaller elite event (Zemst-Hofstade), but he has not yet confirmed in the U23 category with a 26th place in Kalmthout and an 18th in Ruddervoorde. Yet, last weekend, the young Belgian has confirmed his good shape with another second place in Zingem among the elite riders.
Last year, the big surprise in Contern came from Jan Denuwelaere. While he was not even expected at the start, the Belgian rode in aa very offensive way early in the race and, after that, was the last to resist the attacks of Steve Chainel, finishing second in the race, 14 seconds only behind the winner.
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Jan Denuwelaere
Photo: ACC Contern
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It was not until 2008, at the age of 20, that the Belgian started cyclo-cross practice and he has grown by huge steps since. As of his first full season, in fact, Denuwelaere won an elite race when he beat Van Compernolle and Verstraeten in Zonnebeke, in January 2009. Within a few months, the Belgian had established himselves among the world's best espoirs and he finished second in the Superprestige Hoogstraten before beating Tom Meeusen and world champion Philipp Walsleben in Lille for a much noticed win in a race of the GVA Trophy. During his second season in 2009/2010, Denuwelaere won the Superprestige of Zonhoven and finished second in the Belgian U23 championship and on the legendary Koppenberg. Last year, the rider has earned a pro contract in the team Style & Concept and he accomplished his first elite season with great success. After Contern, he has also finished third in Nommay (behind Bazin and Heule, but ahead of Chainel and Mourey), fourth in Ronse (behind Nys, Albert and Meeusen), ninth in Hamme-Zogge and Diegem or tenth at the nationals in Oostmalle. And it seems that Denuwelaere made another giant step towards world's best since as he showed great results in the early current season. In Stribro ,in the home tome of Zdenek Stybar, the Belgian finished second behind the world champion, in Laarne, he was on the podium together with Niels Albert and Sven Nys and in Ardooie, a few days ago, Denuwelaere made a big show in the early laps before finishing sixth in the race won by Stybar.
Tom Van den Bosch usually offers us a good start into the season and that's also what he has done this winter
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Tom Van Den Bosch
Photo: Team AA-Drink
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by taking the victory in Baltimore ahead of British rider Ian Field and finishing on the podium another three times in the United States, during the month of September. Back in Belgium, Van den Bosch was also seventh in Laarne as well as 14th and 25th in Ardooie and Ruddervoorde. During a while, he was considered as the king of the second-category series in Belgian, taking lots of wins in lower ranked races, but he has now established himself in the pro circuit. He has earned himself a contract in the Dutch team AA Drink and thanked his employers last year with a victory in Valencia in Spain, a second place in Harderwijk and Top 10 positions in Woerden, Dottignies, Ronse, Leudelange and Otegem. The son of former cyclo-cross racer André Van den Bosch, who was used to riding in Luxemburg with his brother Danny in the years 1980, also won the races in Steinmaur and Leudelange. He is also used to riding in Contern where he finised tenth, sixth, fourth and second in recent years. He was also a very good rider in the younger categories with a silver medal at the Junior Championships in Belgium and a bronze medal at the military world championships.
Stijn Huys is the actual Belgian National champion
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Stijn Huys
Photo: Orange Babies Team
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in the elite without contract category. In the past, he had already twice finished third in the same race and always was among the favourites for the most important race of the season in his category in recent years. Each winter, Stijn Huys picks up a number of victories in the Belgian B-circuit (8 wins in 2009/2010) and finally was able to ride himself into the tricolor jersey in Antwerp, in January 2011. Internationally, Huys also has references as he won the cyclo-cross Villarcayo in 2009 ahead of the best Spanish riders. He also finished fifth in Medina de Pomar, sixth in Pétange and in Leudelange or 10th in Ronse, last year in the race won by Albert ahead of Nys and Meeusen. This year, the rider intends to show well his champion jersey in Belgium and has already earned a victory in Hoboken, before finishing second in Eversel the last weekend behind Dutchman Van Kessel.
Other Belgian riders will be present in Contern, including Jens Adams, a teammate of Niels Albert at BKCP-Powerplus. This excellent road racer (fourth overall of thr Niedersachsenrundfahrt for juniors amongst others) was sixth at the Junior European Championships
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Jens Adams
Photo: BKCP - Powerplus
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in 2009, before moving to the U23 category last year. As of his first season, he finished several times in the Top 10 at events of the Superprestige and GVA Trophy, and was also ranked second in the elite race in Huijbergen behind Tom Meeusen. Brothers Gianni and Ritchie Denolf make regular appearances in Luxembourg. Gianni the elder had finished 11th in Niederanven in 2007 and, two years ago, he finished sixth in Contern, just behind the Czech armada and German Sascha Wagner. In recent years, without ever being in the spotlights, the frail Flemish rider showed encouraging results in the U23 category and was also regularly present at elite events, where he finished for example sixth in Differdange and in the Top 5 of a dozen B-races in Belgium. His brother Ritchie is in his third season with the U23 after having had good results in the junior category, such as a fourth place in the Grand-prix Comat, a fifth in Ruddervoorde or 14th in the World Cup Pijnacker. Like his brother Gianni, this great fan of the two Schleck rarely wins, but is often well placed.
Robby Cobbaert and Joeri Hofman are young riders with promising results for their first U23 year: the first one finished 21st in Ruddervoorde, and the second ony, who is member of Sven Nys' team Landbouwkrediet-KDL Trans was 15th in Kalmthout.
Patrick Gaudy is part of a rare community in the small cyclo-cross world, because next to Quentin Bertholet, he is indeed the only Walloon to perform well off the road, in this typically Flemisch sport. Gaudy is one of the best Belgian MTB riders and he began cyclo-cross last year. From the beginning, he won the race in Hoboken and took third place in the Belgium championships elite without a contract. This year, the Walloon seems to have improved more and since the start of the season, he has already won in Kessel-Fort, finished sixth in Eversel and excellent 18th in Kalmthout ahead of confirmed riders as Vanthourenhout, Zlamalik, Simunek and Peeters.
Corné Van Kessel, the Dutch rider of team Telenet-Fidea, was U23 National Champion of the Netherlands in 2010 when he beat the favorites Eising, Van der Haar and Van Poppel on the icy track in Heerlen, Limburg.
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Corné Van Kessel
Photo: Telenet-Fidea
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The young man had a brilliant early career as the year before, he had finished second in the junior world championships in Hoogerheide, at home, behind Tijmen Eising and regularly placed in the Top 10 of world-cup races. But after that, knee problems have hampered his progression and, despite fifth and seventh places in the U23 races of Hasselt, Gieten and Diegem, Van Kessel did not meet his own expectations during the season 2010/2011. But the Dutchman has well prepared this summer, competing in races like the Tour of Belgium, and hopes to find back his best form this season. He is particularly keen on fast tracks and thus should be at ease in Contern. He has already earned three victories this season in B events in Belgium (Wiekevorst, Koningshooikt and Eversel, last weekend). However, he has not yet reached his goal of performing well (Top 5) in the major U23 races, as he finished 14th in Kalmthout and 20th in Ruddervoorde.
With a world-cup leg taking place in the own country, the Czech delegation will be a little bit less strong than in previous years.
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Pavel Adel
Photo: KC Hlinsko
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It will be led by the brothers Adel who both have already shown themselves in Luxembourg previously. Pavel Adel won the Grand-prix COMAT for beginners on the fast track in the forest of Steinsel in 1999, when he was also National champion of the Czech Republic in this category, then he beat the Frenchman Schmitt and Laurent Didier in the mud of Gonderange, in 2000 as a first-year junior. He thus is a complete rider and returned to Contern in 2005, when he ranked eighth among the elite and best U23 rider for the race. He was also on the podium in Pétange in 2007, when he finished third in the New Year cyclo-cross, just behind David Pagnier and Jonathan Page. Internationally, Pavel Adel ranked 15th and 16th respectively of the Junior World Championships as well as 14th and 8th in the U23 European Championships , ending in 2006 just one place behind a certain Peter Sagan. This year, Adel has mainly competed so far in the prestigious Toi-Toi Cup at home, the Czech Republic, where he has taken 14th place in Lostice, just ahead of his brother Filip. Filip Adel seems to have reached the same level as his brother and finishes regularly among the Top 15 in races of the Toi-Toi Cup, where it is not unusual to have more than sixty riders at the start. But unlike Pavel, he never managed to break through in the U23 categroy, despite having had good results in the World Cup as a junior. He was for example 4th in the races in Hofstade and Hoogerheide as well as 5th in Kalmthout in the years 2007/2008. On the two world championships where Filip Adel participated, he finished respectively 16th and 21st.
The Adel brothers will be joined by other young Czechs like Ondrej Louvar, 6th of last years Junioe National championships, Petr Hampl, 8th in this same race and 25th in the Junior European championships, Michal Malik, who was 9th a few days ago in the international elite race in Podbrezova, Slovakia, and Tomas Bohata, who was 5th last year in the Grand-prix COMAT for juniors as well as 13th in the world-cup race on the motorway track in Zolder.
A regular visitor of the event in Contern is the German Sascha Wagner. Two years ago, he was the only one to be able to hang on to the Czech armada finished in 5th position of the race. After that, the young rider took part in some world-cup events in the elite category, his best
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Sascha Wagner
Photo: Team BMC Actionline
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result being a 39th place in Treviso. During the
last years, he finished respectively 7th, 5th and 2nd at the U23 German national
cyclo-cross championships where he also had earned a podium spot in the novice category and he also took half a dozen of victories in
various races. In 2008/2009, Sascha Wagner has won the overall classification in
the national Deutschland cup series in the U23 category. He is a
good rider on the road where he finished in 2009 5th of the U23 national
championships and 12th overall at the Mainfranken Tour. In 2008, this
rider with multiple skills was regional Hessen champion in no less
than four different disciplins (road, cyclo-cross, time-trial and MTB). After changing into the elite category, he continous to be one of the best German cyclo-cross races as he took eighth of the last national championships. He makes regular appearances in Luxembourg with victories in Belvaux and Dippach. This year, Sascha Wagner also lined up in Dippach, where he finished second behind fellow countryman Sascha Weber, he was third in Kayl and 17th in the Süpercross in Baden, Switzerland, won by Stybar ahead of Mourey. He will be joined by Patrick Schubert, a professional road racer of the Polish Continental team Bank BGZ, who goes from time to time off-road, as well as other riders from the border region.
Next to the foreign competitors, we also hope to have at the start the best riders from Luxembourg, like Gusty Bausch who has often performed well in Contern (he was seventh in 2008). This year, the rider from LC Kayl seems to be in very good shape since, after having lost against Sascha Weber in his own Brouch (second) and in Dippach (4th), he finally won his first race of the season in Kayl. Vincent Dias Dos Santos, junior national champion on the same course in Contern a few years ago, narrowly failed in Kayl, but just like Jerome Juncker, Lex Reichling or Benn Wurth, he has to accept that Gusty Bausch has had the best season start in Luxembuorg so far. A delegation from the French border region is also awaited at the start.
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