GP OST-MANUFAKTUR

25th Grand-prix OST-Manufaktur regional road race for elite and U23 riders (cat 1.12) 01.05.2012 - Bech

GP OST 2012 in deutscher Sprache GP OST 2012 en Francais

Bericht:

Differdange - Profel-Bofrost: 3-0 The 25th edition of the newly named Grand-prix OST-Manufaktur was a nice little success. If the choice of May 1st as date wasn't a good one regarding the number of riders because many teams already had commitments elsewhere, it was definitely a hit in terms of weather. A fine sunny day after lots of rain in recent weeks that deserved to be outside and watch the cyclists. The handful of spectators present in Bech saw an exciting race with suspense up to the end and a battle between the two strongest teams of the day, Differdange and PROFEL-Bofrost. In the end, the advantage was for the home team who, for the third time in a row, presented the winner in the person of the former Swedish champion Christer Jonas Ljungblad.

74 riders were present at the start of the 25th Grand-prix supported by the company of our former rider Romain Hilger, among them Peloton in the countryside two dozen U23 riders but only five brave juniors. And the action started with the gun when attacks occured from all sides on the first lap. In the second round already, the peloton was seriously shake and then eventually split after an accelaration of Olivier Laterza and Daniel Bintz in particular. 7 riders went clear at the front with two men from Differdange and from the Belgian PROFEL-Bofrost-Prorace team already present. After a first regroupement, Kevin Feiereisen went on the offensive and in the third lap the peloton broke into pieces in the crosswinds. 18 men remained in command, soon joined by an almost complete PROFEL Bofrost team. They had missed the good shot at the beginning, but immediately reacted and after a short chase, the ended up at majority stake in the leading group. Behind them, another and bigger bunch was pointed at a few hundred meters, but for those, it was already too late: Steve Fries, Gusty Bausch, Marc Leyder, Jerome Juncker and company had to give up the idea of coming back and lost Acceleration from Feiereisen more and more ground on the following laps. In front, three riders breaked away in the fourth lap: Sergio Ferrari (Willems Veranda Chevigny), Kevin Feiereisen (ASFRA Racing Team) and Mark Franken (PROFEL-Bofrost) left the others behind them and they had fifteen seconds of advance on the first chasers, including Christian Poos. But the former Marcel Niederweis Cup winner was not on a good day and he had to give up a little later. There was no rider from Differdange at the front and that was obviously a very bad point for the break. The men of Gabriel Gatti put the hammer down in the chasing group and, following this acceleration, 20 riders came together at the head of the race. There were seven riders of the Belgian PROFEL-Bofrost team (Schittecatte, Shaved, Coenen, Bruyndonckx, Franken and the two Van Roy, Stijn and Simon), four of Differdange (former Grand-prix OST-Fenster winner Hakan Bo Nilsson, Ljungblad and the Kaupas brothers, Gediminas and Vytautas) several riders from Luxemburg like Olivier Laterza (LG Bertrange), Massimo Morabito (UC Dippach), Kevin Feiereisen (ASFRA Racing Team), Benn Wurth, Claude Wolter (LC Kayl ) and Philippe two leaders Hermann (LC Tétange) as well as Dutch representative Tom Marcelis (Cicli Basso - Vicenza) and another two Belgians, Jonathan Baratto (also Tétange) and Sergio Ferrari (Willems Veranda). Also in the leading group was surprising Junior Christophe Braun, the only of his category to be invited with the best and he did not only hide in the wheels, but also participated in a very active way in the race. Behind them, Daniel Bintz and Pascal Triebel were trying to bridge up with Diseviscourt, Tom Flammang and a few others but, after having trailed only a few meters behind the first group for a couple of laps, the started to loose ground. The two Kaupas brothers tried to make a further selection but, just as Stijn Van Roy, they were unable to create a decent gap. Two other riders had more of a success: Marc Franken, who has already been present in the first escape and Jonas Ljungblad took the lead during lap seven meaning roughly at mid-race. From 25 seconds, the gap quickly increased to one minute then a minute and a half on the following loops, as both leaders were a member of the two strongest teams today: their PROFEL-Bofrost and Differdange teammates watched themselves in the chasing group and isolated attempts by Benn Wurth or Kevin Feiereisen did not contribute to reducing the gap tactical games But when Christophe Braun retired from the race with an anticipated junior victory in his pocket, he won the race with three laps to go for the elite riders and more than four minutes ahead of Lex Losch and Sven Fritsch, the advantage to the two leaders started to melt. Ljungblad and Franken were still securely installed in front of the race but behind them, their teammates showed some reaction. Vitautas and Gediminas Kaupas had attacked along with Dennis Coenen and Bart Bruyndonckx, then Massimo Morabito and a very active Kevin Feiereisen had a go: the chasing group was further reduced to 13 riders ant they were only about 40 seconds late at the beginning of the last lap. But the two leaders still had some strength left and they reached the finish line in Bech ahead of their chasers for a two-man sprint: Jonas Ljungblad, the experienced former professional cyclist from Omega-Pharma-Lotto, Amore-Vita or Unibet among others, multiple champion of Sweden, winner of the Tour de Vendee and the Herald Sun Tour Podium: Franken, Ljungblad, De Roy against Marc Franken, the young 20-year-old who only had second and third places in a provincial championship near Antwerp as references. And the experience paid off: while Franken had attacked several times in the last two kilometers, the Swede has quietly waited his time, he came back every time into the youngster's wheel and then clearly dominated the the sprint. Jonas Christer Ljungblad thus wins the 25th Grand-prix OST-Manufaktur with a good length advantage on his breakaway companion Marc Franken, while a team-mate of the latter, Stijn Van Roy, managed to get away from the chasing group in the final to take third place at 29 seconds. Just two more seconds later, Vytautas Kaupas won the sprint of the first group, becoming fourth of the day ahead fo the best rider from Luxembourg and winner of the Marcel Niederweis Cup, Kevin Feiereisen. Note: "This site contains links to other pages, on which content and presentation we don't have any influence. These refences are indicated merely for your information and and we can't be made reliable for any of the content of any of the places our links may take you to." 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