Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus) won the Fidea Scheldecross on the banks of the river Schelde, within sight of the city of Antwerp. The Czech rider, who is a specialist over the snow, coped with the wintry conditions better than the rest and outsprinted Sven Vanthourenhout (Sunweb-Revor), with the two of them finishing clear of Bart Aernouts (Rabo-Giant) in the battle for second.
“I’m very happy today,” the Czech rider said on Sport.be. “I crashed twice and used a lot of strength to get back to the leaders. I felt like I had a great opportunity today.
“Step by step I’m moving forward,” he continued, “and I hope that I will have a beautiful period; the cold is my ally.
“I hope that [Zdenek] Stybar comes back quickly,” he added, referring to his compatriot who is currently out with a knee injury, “ because without the World champion the race is not complete. At the Czech championship we can have a beautiful battle together.”
Simunek was aggressive from the start of the race, when he, Sven Vantourenhout, Dieter Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Poweplus) and Klaas Vantournout (Sunweb-Revor) took the front of the race into the first corner. Most of the top names seemed to have bad starts, with Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) caught a long way back and Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea) having a problem on one of the first turns.
A mid race surge from Aernouts saw the Rabo-Giant rider pull clear alone and it took a sustained chase from Nys, who had by now worked his way forward, with Simunek, both Vanthourenhouts and Vantournout, with Aernouts’ teammate Lars Boom sitting in.
As Aernouts began the final lap, the chase caught up with the lone Belgian and Simunek immediately made another move; he was unable to get clear though and had Nys in close attendance.
Midway round the final lap Nys and Simunek went shoulder to shoulder around a bend and as they bumped the Belgian champion unshipped his chain, putting an end to his race. The group carried on without him and as they entered the finishing straight Simunek and Sven Vantourenhout pulled clear of the tiring Aernouts, with the Czech rider proving fastest.
Boom came in just behind Aernouts, with Eddy Van Ijzendoorn (AA Drink) taking fifth. Nys eventually rolled over the line in twelfth, his mind already on tomorrow’s Kalmthout World Cup race.
Kupfernagel wins from the front
German champion Hanka Kupfernagel (Stevens) won the women’s race by leading for almost the entire race. The former World champion, who has also worn the time trial rainbow jersey, was doggedly pursued by current World champion Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) and Belgian champion Sanne Cant (BKCP-Powerplus). She managed to hold them both off to the finish, where Cant had no answer to Vos’ sprinting power.
“This is a nice victory,” Kupfernagel told Sport.be. “I spent the whole time feeling the hot breath of Cant and Vos on my back. Fortunately I made few mistakes; I had a good start on this smooth course.
“You had to stay focused all the time,” she added. “Luckily I had good equipment today, that was quite different to last year."
Vos was in her first race of the season, and so without ranking points she was forced to start from the very back row, having only arrived back in Europe on Thursday after the track World Cup in Melbourne. She was forced to chase through the entire bunch before joining Cant in the chase of Kupfernagel.
APB Cycling teammates Pavla Havlikova and Nikki Harris finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Olympic mountainbike champion Sabine Spitz in sixth.
Result Fidea Scheldecross Elite Men
1. Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus
2. Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor
3. Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabo-Giant Offroad Team
4. Lars Boom (Ned) Rabo-Giant Offroad Team
5. Eddy Van Ijzendoorn (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team
6. Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus
7. Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet-Fidea
8. Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabo-Giant Offroad Team
9. Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus
10. Klaas Vantournout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor
Result Fidea Scheldecross Elite Women
1. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Stevens
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
3. Sanne Cant (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus
4. Pavla Havlikova (Cze) APB Cycling Team
5. Nikki Harris (GBr) APB Cycling Team
6. Sabine Spitz (Ger) Germany
7. Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Ned) ZZPR.nl
8. Sabrina Stultiens (Ned)
9. Ellen Van Looy (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Thompson
10. Gabriella Day (GBr) Chainstay