Road & MTB season (Crossers) 2012

[Echoes]

OK so apparently Chainel did not finish Kuurne (he was on the list though).

Boom, Trentin and Labbe all crashed on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad/Het Volk/Ghent-Ghent/Omloop van Vlaanderen.


But at Fayt-le-Franc / Le Samyn :

69 Steve Chainel (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat

With 10 km to go on the last ascent of the Côte de la Roquette (not too steep, soft cobbles) Steve was in a breakaway with some 5 riders (Fuglsang among others) but unfortunately he could not take his share of the workload since he had his sprinters behind, and so one of 'em (Démare) won.

I'd like to note that Matteo Trentin finished 10th but I think he definitely chose for road by now.


I'd also like to start a separate thread about the Belgacom GP that will start on April 28 in Stoumont, since it's now become a mixed Challenge (MTB/Cyclocross). I think it can belong here.

 

[Echoes]

Mellow Johnny's Classic - Dripping Spring, Texas (MTB)

2 Geoff Kabush
3 Todd Wells

"It was so fast. Kabush was just flying on the fast singletrack and the technical sections." said Wells.


In Paris-Nice, Arnold Jeannesson got the right breakaway in the "waaiers" and has a shot at a top10 rank in the final ranking.

I still have to mention him in this thread since he's still raced a dozen cyclocrosses, last winter, defeating Gadret in Lanarvily, among other good results in France.

Casar, Roy and many other French roadies are also crossing over in their free time.

 

[Echoes]

Danny Summerhill, 10th at the Lillers GP (1.2) last Sunday.


I thought he contracted with Garmin?

 

[DirtyWorks]

Danny Summerhill, 10th at the Lillers GP (1.2) last Sunday.


I thought he contracted with Garmin?

He rode some races with them in the second-half of 2011, but they didn't hire him for the ProTour team for 2012. I guess he's still on their development team though.

 

[DirtyWorks]

83 Sven Nys (Bel) 0:16:34 He finished on the lead lap in Pietermaritzburg 2012. It would be great to see him in the Olympics.

[edit] what was I thinking Sylvain Chavanel raced 'cross? Oh well....

 

[Echoes]

Exact for Summerhill. He still rides for the Chipottle Development team. I thought that his good results in Colorado would have offered him a contract though.

I didn't remember Chavanel crossed over (except maybe a handful of them for fun). What were his best performances?


Nys targeted a top60 rank in Pietermaritzburg, in order to get a better start position. That was missed but he still has his chance for an Olympic selection.

Some other crossers in South Africa:

9 Marco Aurelio Fontana
37 Geoff Kabush
49 Marek Konwa
50 Julien Taramarcaz (Swiss Champion cyclocross)

(On another note, weird to see JC Peraud back to mtb)


Chainel is 35th in the Nokere Koerse and 80th in Milan-Sanremo. He didn't reiterate his great performance from last year.


Oh and I'd like to note Jelle Wallays' great performance in Dwars door Vlaanderen (ex Dwars door België). He was the last to hold Terpstra's wheel. He's not a crosser but raced a few of them last winter, notably the Belgian nats which he finished 16th and dead last.

 

[DirtyWorks]

I didn't remember Chavanel crossed over (except maybe a handful of them for fun). What were his best performances?

I was not thinking straight when I posted that. Though, I was convinced at the time he did!

 

[Echoes]

It's very much possible, you know. Those French are often crossing in winter for fun.


Anyway, Chainel was an excellent 8th in Ghent-Wevelgem (wearing a black ribbon, in memory of the victims of the shooting in Toulouse, I guess) and 31st in the Three Days of De Panne (including of 5th spot in the rush classification). He's in a very good shape.

In the stage to Koksijde, you could see him at the front of the peloton, smiling and pointing his finger towards the dune on the left, remembering where the Cross Worlds were held. Very nice !

 

[Echoes]

Steve Chainel was 32nd at the Tour of Flanders, 111th at the Schelde GP and an excellent 13th at Paris-Roubaix, though very discrete.

Lars Boom did a great Paris-Roubaix and finished 6th. Despite a mechanical at the end, he attacked on the Carrefour de l'Arbre but finished with nothing left in the tank.


Both riders used their cyclocross bikes for Paris-Roubaix, as usual now.


Oh and I forgot Christoph Pfingsten, 21st of the Tour of Cologne

 

[DirtyWorks]

Nys at Houffalize

Sven Nys (Bel) finished 33rd (-6:20 to winner) and looks like the top-placed Belgian by a long way. I don't know what the selection criteria are, but my wild(!) guess is he's got to do well through May to make the Olympic team.

Julie Bresset, 2nd!
Georgia Gould occasionally does 'cross at -3:35 to winner.
Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (talk about cycling royalty) -7:25 down to her winner. 2012 French 'cross champion
Katie Compton -9:04

 

[Echoes]

Houffalize is a great setting for MTB, I've been there often. It's close to the most famous Liège-Bastogne climbs too (Stockeu, Haute-Levée).

I'll add that Geoff Kabush was an excellent 11th, Todd Wells 45th, Julien Taramarcaz 46th.

In other MTB events:

Paprtska 9th in Teplice on April 21, Loïc Doubey 8th in the Ötztaler MTB Festival (the U23 race) on April 22, Marco-Aurelio Fontana wins the Trofeo Delcar on April 22 and Julien Taramarcaz 7th in Lugano.

And in Nieuwkuijk on April 9

Winner Michiel van der Heijden
Edit:7 Kenta Gallagher
11 Emiel Dolfsma
22 Eddy van IJzendoorn

On the road:

Tour of Catalunya (March 19 to 25)

93 Francis Mourey

Route Adélie of Vitré (1.1)

91 Florian Le Corre (he didn’t cross a lot last winter but I think he was seriously injured)
102 Francis Mourey

Emerald Arrow – St-Malo (1.1)

38 Mathieu Boulo
86 Florian Le Corre
108 Francis Mourey

Circuit de la Sarthe (2.1)

71 Francis Mourey

Volta Limburg Classic (1.1) March 31

28 Christoph Pfingsten

Cycle Tour of Oploo (criterium) April 1

12 Mike Teunissen
17 Gert-Jan Bosman

Tour of Twijzelerheide (criterium) April 7

4 Gert-Jan Bosman

Grand Tour of Gerwen (criterium) April 9
Winner Mike Teunissen
2 Gert-Jan Bosman
9 Micki van Empel

Paris-Camembert (1.1) April 10

60 Mathieu Boulo

Lek en Ijssel Circuit (U23) April 14

12 Micki Van Empel
16 Mike Teunissen
17 Gert-Jan Bosman

Tour of the Finistère (1.1) April 14

39 Mathieu Boulo
50 Florian Le Corre
76 Francis Mourey

Amstel Gold Race

96 Lars Boom
142 Steve Chainel

Bati-Metallo GP (Juniors) April 15

3 Mathieu van der Poel

Tro Bro Léon (1.1) April 15

32 Francis Mourey
42 Nicolas Bazin

Tour of the Maaskantje (criterium) April 15

10 Micki van Empel
30 Eddy van IJzendoorn

Tour of Trentino (2.1) April 17 to 20

19 John Gadret

Tour of Düren (Nat) April 22

7 Christoph Pfingsten

 

[Echoes]

Georgia Gould wins the Sea Otter Classic.

And Geoff Kabush in the Men's Race.

Troy Wells also present but I don't have full results yet. Todd Wells, too?

Road Results:

KNWU Tijdritcompetitie 2 Zuidschermer (ITT nat.) April 28
12 starters

8 Mitchell Huenders

Tour of Tuscany (1.1) April 29

56 Mike Teunissen (he's still barely 19, racing here a pro race won by Ballan !!!)

Tour of Romandy

44 John Gadret
82 Francis Mourey

Tour of Korea (2.2) April 22 to 29

55 Jeremy Powers

Made (criterium) April 29
Famous post-classic criterium in the Netherlands, consisting of one TT, one elimination race and one "road" race in 2006. Still the case?

3 Lars Boom
11 Lars van der Haar
13 Rob Peeters



And 2 great results from the Junior category:

Quentin Jauregui wins in Kluisberge-Zulzeke and Mathieu van der Poel in Temse

 

[DirtyWorks]

Stybar Stage 4 @ Dunkirk

I just finished watching today's stage of the 4 Days of Dunkirk and Stybar wins the stage! Very good tactical win.

 

[Echoes]

Sadly I missed it but yeah it was a great win for Styby on that queen stage (and historic stage) on the Mont Cassel !

Still works fine for Quick Step lol.

Stybar was also 10th in Stage 1 and 2nd in Stage 2.

And finished 2nd overall, only 42 seconds behind Engoulvent.

Two CN articles:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/stybar-begins-2012-road-campaign-at-four-days-of-dunkirk
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/stybar-scores-first-road-victory-in-four-days-of-dunkirk

Also worth mentioning Mathieu Boulo finished 57th.

The rest will come in another post

 

[Echoes]

Francfurt GP (1.HC) – May 1

34 Christoph Pfingsten

Kortessem (National) – May 1

41 Niels Wubben

Szlakiem Grodòw Piastowskich (2.1) – May 4 to 6

22 Kevin Pauwels (6th in Stage 4)
23 Klaas Vantornout (5th in Stage 1)
24 Jim Aernouts
42 Tijmen Eising (5th in Stage 3)
43 Matthias Bossuyt

Tour of the Gila (2.2) – May 2 to 6

86 Jamey Driscoll

Circuit de Wallonie (1.2) – May 6

5 Sven Nys
28 Xandro Meurisse
62 Vincent Baestaens

Peace Race (Juniors) – May 3 to 6

20 Quentin Jaurégui

Apeldoorn (Stappenbelt Rabobank MTB Trophy) May 6

Winner Tom Meeusen
10 Gerben De Knegt
18 Eddy van IJzendoorn
29 Patrick van Leeuwen

Omloop der Kempen (1.2) – May 6


18 Wietse Bosmans
20 Mike Teunissen
30 Stan Godrie
56 Lubomir Petrus
62 Lars van der Haar
66 Emiel Dolfsma
72 Bart Wellens
83 Christoph Pfingsten
97 Joeri Adams
98 Jens Vandekindere
101 Gert-Jan Bosman
104 Niels Wubben
108 Mitchell Huenders
109 Niels Albert
111 Dieter Vanthourenhout
112 Philipp Walsleben
113 Daniel Peeters
114 Corne Van Kessel
122 Rob Peeters
125 Arnaud Jouffroy

Lol never seen so many crossers in but one race !

Houthalen - Helchteren (National) – May 12

11 Jim Aernouts
16 Klaas Vantornout
87 Vinnie Braet
88 Sven Beelen


Nove Mesto (MTB World Cup) – May 13

4 Marco-Aurelio Fontana
18 Geoff Kabush
23 Sven Nys
32 Todd Wells
35 Marek Konwa
57 Kevin Pauwels
68 Julien Taramarcaz
72 Tom Meeusen
Mariusz Gil 2 laps behind
Zdenek Mlynar 3 laps behind
Pauwels had a very good race after starting 112 in the grid and he said he enjoyed MTB more than … cross even though cross is still the priority. But when you see how much trouble he has on muddy courses, it does not come as a surprise. Meeusen also hoped for Olympics but I think it was already over after Nove Mesto. Nys started 50th in the grid. So he made a great race too but he had to enter top12 to secure an Olympic spot.

Tour of Isère (2.2) – May 10 to 13

37 Wietse Bosmans (8th in the final stage)
40 Philipp Walsleben
65 Marcel Meisen
77 David van der Poel

Tryptique ardennais (National stage race) – May 11 to 13

5 Mike Teunissen (7th in Stage 1 and 4th in Stage 3)
53 Niels Wubben
55 Stan Godrie
58 Patrick van Leeuwen
68 Lars van der Haar
77 Gert-Jan Bosman
Only Dutch crossers in our Ardennes lol

Tour of Picardy (2.1) – May 11 to 13

21 Sven Vanthourenhout
34 Steve Chainel
47 Vincent Baestaens
52 Mathieu Boulo
102 Nicolas Bazin
132 Florian Le Corre

Wielerronde van Nieuw Vossemeer (Criterium) – May 13

8 Bart Aernouts

Verrebroeck (criterium) – May 13

13 Arnaud Jouffroy
17 Arnaud Grand
19 Gianni Vermeersch
30 Dieter Vanthourenhout
48 Jens Vandekindere
69 Jens Adams
79 Bart Wellens
82 Thijs Al
84 Michael Vanthourenhout
86 Rob Peeters
102 Corne van Kessel

Puivelde Koerse (170 km kermess) – May 16

6 Dieter Vanthourenhout
12 Niels Albert
19 Wietse Bosmans
21 Bart Wellens
29 Vincent Baestaens
30 Rob Peeters
31 Joeri Adams

DK Tijdrijden Zuid-Oost (National ITT U23 Dutch only) – May 16
11 starters

2 Mike Teunissen
5 Gert-Jan Bosman

Kumtich-Tienen (National) – May 17

5 Arnaud Grand
6 Bart Verchueren
23 Corne Van Kessel

Tour of Limburg (1.2) – May 17

3 Klaas Vantornout !!!
4 Mike Teunissen
22 Gianni Vermeersch
24 Jim Aernouts
28 Sven Beelen
34 Marcel Meisen
47 Lars van der Haar
48 Vinnie Braet
77 Lubomir Petrus
88 Thijs Al
108 Niels Wubben
114 Dieter Vanthourenhout
115 Niels Albert
116 Matthias Bossuyt
117 Philipp Walsleben
122 Radomir Simunek
131 Tim Merlier
138 Stan Godrie

South Holland Island Tour (National) – May 19

4 Stan Godrie
30 Mike Teunissen


Heist-op-den-Berg (Criterium) – May 19

8 Bart Wellens
14 Vincent Baestaens
16 Sven Vanthourenhout
17 Niels Albert
18 Philipp Walsleben
21 Laurens Sweeck
22 David van der Poel

Ronde van ‘t Ginneken (criterium) – May 20

8 Bart Aernouts


La Bresse (MTB World Cup) – May 20

28 Marek Konwa
50 Todd Wells
62 Kevin Pauwels
Kevin has now no hope of an Olympic selection. It was normally a circuit that should’ve suited him, he said but he just had an off-day. Nys crashed and retired. He still has one chance to go to London.




I don't think this is a comprehensive list of all that happened last month but I only chose to track the most prominent figures of our favourite sport on both sides of the Atlantic. And if those prominent figures races against some second-tier crossers on a given race, mentioned those latter as well. I have less time than last year but it's always fun to see what our crossers are doing in spring and summer.

Hope for a good Tour of Belgium. And then U23 Paris-Roubaix + the French at the Giro.

 

[Echoes]

Oh and apparently, Golazzo gave up their plan to mix MTB and cross for the Belgacom Trophy.

So I'll also add that Tom Meeusen was 7th in Stoumont and Rob Peeters 20th.

The next stops for this Challenge will be:

Antwerp on June 6
Sankt Vith on July 7
Geraardsbergen on July 14
Boom on August 8

Incidently, I've stumbled on a video interview of Marco-Aurelio Fontana in La Bresse. Found it nice, so I'll just post it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGWcfhViqQ&feature=player_embedded#!

 

[Echoes]

Our crossers did well in the first stage of the Tour (of Belgium).

10 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet - Fidea
11 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony
12 Wietse Bosmans (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus
...
14 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Sunweb - Revor

 

[Echoes]

Again nicely gathered together in the top20 of the stage.

Nys and Albert showed up in front of the peloton during the sprint prep. Still wondering why, though.

10. [BEL] VANTHOURENHOUT Sven LAN

12. [BEL] PAUWELS Kevin SUN
17. [NED] EISING Tijmen SUN
19. [BEL] AERNOUTS Jim SUN
20. [BEL] MERLIER Tim SUN

 

[Echoes]

Again, a handful of crossers in the top20 and everyday different ones, lol.


8 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
12 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony
16 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony

I've rarely seen Boom sprint like that.

And I'd like to highlight the 23rd spot of Tim Merlier. He's barely 19 (born in October 1992). In stage 2 he got a top20 spot.

 

[Echoes]

Overall survey of the ITT

6 Lars BOOM RAB +1:11
23 Zdenek STYBAR OPQ +2:05 I guess he's improved his position on the bike since last year.
75 Niels ALBERT BKP +2:50 He was in the top20 in 2009 !!
84 Philipp WALSLEBEN BKP +3:02 Phil has been doing well in the Ardennes stage the last two years, looking forward.
85 Rob PEETERS FID +3:02
92 Kevin PAUWELS SUN +3:18
93 Jim AERNOUTS SUN +3:21
99 Lubomir PETRUS BKP +3:27
101 Wietse BOSMANS BKP +3:27 caught by van Emden today.
111 Tim MERLIER SUN +3:43
113 Arnaud JOUFFROY FID +3:45
116 Sven VANTHOURENHOUT LAN +3:49
117 Gianni VERMEERSCH BKP +3:51 caught by Roelandts and Terpstra at the same time. You could see him fighting !
120 Sven NYS LAN +3:54
121 Vinnie BRAET SUN +3:55
129 Joeri ADAMS FID +4:01
137 Bart WELLENS FID +4:14
145 Radomir SIMUNEK BKP +4:33
147 Corne VAN KESSEL FID +4:41
148 Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT BKP +4:42
152 Tijmen EISING SUN +5:06
154 Tom MEEUSEN FID +5:18
155 Karel HNIK SUN +5:50 I didn't know he moved to Sunweb.
156 Sven BEELEN SUN +5:52 aforelast


John Gadret did rather well on the Stelvio (7th), one of the only guys from the MR group to attack.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Great race by Nys and Pauwels today

 

[Echoes]

I can but agree.

KP mixing it up with some of the best road uphill sprinters and Nys attacking at the top of the Mur d'Amay. Unbelievable.

So KP is second and Nys 13th in the stage results.

Final results for the Tour of Belgium (I'll post the rest later on):

29 Sven Nys (Great Ardennes stage by Sven, in the Barredo group that resisted the bunch until the top of the Mur of Amay (20k to go) and at the top, he was in the top3 of the super sprint behind Barredo and Moinard and then made a last attack before Martin’s group came back. You could still see him counter another attack later on but I don’t remember whom).
36 Zdenek Stybar (he was 23rd before the Ardennes stage but had to work for Martin, he dropped in the Mur of Amay. At that time, he was with Terpstra, the last Quickstepper, to help Martin, though the latter had other domestiques from other teams)
41 Kevin Pauwels (KP punctured in the finale in Stage 1 and he was 154th in the GC after Stage 3 when he chose to spare energy for the last stage, which makes a come back from 100 spots in only one stage lol; he’s 12th in the Point Classification)
47 Lars Boom (7th in the Point Classification)
51 Lubomir Petrus (Lubo was seen shortly before Amay chasing behind Martin’s group but he never made it, he’s 9th in the Young rider Classification)
57 Gianni Vermeersch (12th in the Young Rider Classification; He’s barely 19. He was already there last year at age 18 but retired during the Ardennes stage)
68 Niels Albert
74 Wietse Bosmans
76 Jim Aernouts (Was the first at the finish line, 1st passage)
78 Sven Vanthourenhout
80 Vinnie Braet
84 Joeri Adams
95 Arnaud Jouffroy (14th in the Climb classification)
99 Tom Meeusen
102 Karel Hnik
109 finishers for this years Tour of Belgium

The cross team results are disappointing however. Sunweb 15th, BKCP 16th and Fidea 19th and dead last.

 

[Echoes]

Borsbeeck (National) – May 20

12 Jelle Cant
33 Kevin Cant

Ronde van Ridderkerk (criterium) – May 23

11 Mitchell Huenders


Kortenaken-Stok (Nat.) – May 24

4 Diether Sweeck
15 Laurens Sweeck
108 Hendrik Sweeck (Hendrik is the 1 year older brother of the above mentioned twins and... he’s also a cyclocrosser***)

Plumelec – Morbihan GP (1.1) – May 26

17 Julian Alaphilippe (He's still 19 - will turn 20 in 2 weeks - and is mixing it up with some of the best & most experienced pro Frenchies, there )
27 Mathieu Boulo
53 Florian Le Corre
78 Arnold Jeannesson
82 Nicolas Bazin

Linden (Nat.) – May 26

10 Floris De Tier
12 Bart Verschueren
16 Diether Sweeck
58 Jelle Cant
70 Laurens Sweeck (!!!)

Omloop Hoeksche Waard (Nat.) – May 26
160km

21 Gert-Jan Bosman
48 Micki van Empel

Boucles de l’Aulne (1.1) – May 27

76 Arnold Jeannesson
79 Florian Le Corre
84 Mathieu Boulo


U23 Paris-Roubaix – May 27
Mike Teunissen gave his insight on the race on his website miketeunissen.nl. He said it was really hot and hence dusty. There was a 10-man morning break and in the first sections 5 men tried to escape. He attacked with 8 men behind the 5 and caught them. But they didn't work together and that's how Stuyven and a group with eventual winner Bob Jungels could come back. When they closed the gap to 40" with the lead group, a group with Jungels attacked and he would never see him back. Behind, they were still staring at each other and that's how many riders got back from behind. On the Carrefour de l'Arbre, Stuyven, Senechal and Hofland attacked. He was a little too far behind and landed in a 4-man group behind the three. They caught them on the small section of Hem. After that he attacked several times again, notably on the Espace Crupelandt, in the streets of Roubaix. The group ultimately was sprinting for a 6th spot. He started the sprint early and was outsprinted by Hofland and Zepuntke.

8 Mike Teunissen
11 Xandro Meurisse
61 Stan Godrie

Lauwe (Nat.) – May 27

2 Ritchie Denolf
12 Gianni Denolf

Ramsel-Herselt (Nat.) – May 27

11 Diether Sweeck
18 Laurens Sweeck

US Nats (Road Race) – May 28

26 Jeremy Powers
39 Jamey Driscoll

Gullegem Koerse (Pro Kermess) – May 28
171km – Famous kermess with a lot of pros, won last year by Gilbert during his unbeaten run in single-day races (92nd, this year). Stybar was 20th last year. He doesn’t come up in the results this year.

39 Floris De Tier
48 Gianni Denolf
62 Diether Sweeck
86 Jan Denuwelaere
104 Laurens Sweeck
113 Ritchie Denolf


***Here's what Hendrik Sweeck in cyclocross last winter (I didn't know about him before )

GVA - U23 - Baal 28 01/01/2012 2011/2012
GVA - U23 - Loenhout 46 28/12/2011 2011/2012
GVA - U23 - Essen 33 17/12/2011 2011/2012
GVA - U23 - Hasselt 40 19/11/2011 2011/2012
Superprestige - U23 - Hamme-Zogge 37 13/11/2011 2011/2012
Superprestige - U23 - Ruddervoorde 29 09/10/2011 2011/2012
U-23 - Kalmthout 19 02/10/2011 2011/2012

 

[Echoes]

Young crossers are doing very well at the moment.

First of all, Baestaens was 8th at the first sprint at the Tour of Luxembourg.


And now, Julian Alaphilippe wins the 2nd stage of the Coupe des Nations in Saguenay City. The Saguenay River is one of my favourite areas in Quebec.

In the first stage, Julian was probably involved in a crash that happened in the last 2 k's, which is why he was very far in the stage results.

Here's the vid in French (lovely Canadian French accent, lol): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LiSldtPTzQ&feature=player_embedded
86 riders - 151km

4 riders broke away at the 9th k: Gougeard, Tratnik, Chamorro and Galeano, later joined by Houle, Gradek & Lutsenko.

They will be caught but I don't know when.

In the last lap (15k), a 10-man breakaway escaped from the peloton:
Julian Alaphilippe Armée De Terre
Eduardo Sepúlveda
Mark Christian An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton
Arman Kamyshev Continental Team Astana
Klement Stimulak Radenska
Nathan Brown Bontrager Livestrong Team
David Boily Spidertech Powered By C10
Alexey Lutsenko Continental Team Astana
Fernando Orjuela Gutierrez
Olivier Le Gac Bic 2000


They first had 50". But with less than 5k to go, they barely had 30 seconds left. Then Le Gac attacked, forcing his opponents to chase, which benefitted Julian. And indeed, Julian wins the sprint.

Julian gets the White Jersey of the Young Rider Class. The race is already reserved only for the U23. So if he gets the White Jersey, it really shows he a youngster among the youngsters, lol. (born on June 11 1992, so he's yet to have his 20th birthday).

Translation of Julian's post-race interview:

I'm very happy because it's my first win this season. I'm also glad for Team France because they believed in me for this Nations Cup. I thank them for that. It's mainly a team work, so I thank all my team mates.

(This White Jersey will become a goal for you, won't it?)

Yeah, it's always nice to wear a distinctive jersey, anyway. So we'll try to defend till the end and why not get closer to the yellow jersey. That's why we came here for. We'll do everything for it (smiling). As the days go by, we'll see.

(Good Luck)

Thank you very much.

 

[Echoes]

Mol Rauw (Nat.) – May 29

22 Kevin Cant

Pinkster Drie Ronde Van Krommenie – May 29

6 Mitchell Huenders

Ronde van Capelle (criterium) – June 1

13 Mitchell Huenders

Limburgs Mooiste Race (Nat.) – June 1
(lol it means The Most Beautiful Race of Limburg)

2 Micki van Empel
3 Stan Godrie
4 Gert-Jan Bosman
11 Mike Teunissen
23 Patrick van Leeuwen

Highlights of the race: http://www.l1.nl/video/limburgs-mooiste-race-1-juni-2012#.T8lW0cUXHoZ
The eventual Canadian winner Ivey is seen behind the peloton at the very beginning of the clip. He’s a training partner of Hesjedal’s. It’s about 136km (8 laps of 17km each). Across the Limburg hills but I can’t identify them. At 0.56, you can see Micki van Empel racing for VW Schijndel #18 (his club; he’s a team mate of Teunissen’s and Bosman’s there. Apparently, Micki is also no longer racing for Fidea). The 3 had an advantage of about 40”. At about 1.30, you can see Teunissen and Bosman (not mentioned by the commentator) coming back. The lead group consists of 7 riders. The peloton won’t let this group go to the finish. At 3.19, you have again an 8-man lead group with among others van Empel (not mentioned by the commentator) & Teunissen (commentator names him saying he is a crosser who also races very well on the road, that it’s sometimes hard to choose but that for the moment Mike chooses for cross). At about 3.38, you have an attack from van den Brand and Patrick van Leeuwen #92. They were caught. At 4.25, you have the decisive escape by Ivey, with Teunissen in the chase group. At 5.20, you can see that riders came back from the peloton, Bosman among others.

At the interview, Teunissen dais that Ivey probably was a bit lucky that the chasers did not work hard behind at first but he raced a very strong final lap and is probably a deserved winner.

Bosman and van Empel

Geraardsbergen (criterium for Juniors) – May 2

Winner Mathieu van der Poel

Zwevezele (Nat.) – May 3

5 Michael Vanthourenhout
17 Gianni Denolf
32 Ritchie Denolf