Niels Albert and Marianne Vos have taken their first national cyclocross titles in the elite ranks. Albert won the Belgian men's race in a dominating solo performance, while Vos sprinted to victory in the Dutch women's race. Following are the championships reports from several countries.
Belgium
Men: Albert solos to dominant win
Niels Albert (BKCP) took an undisputed solo win in the Belgian National championships ahead of Bart Wellens and Kevin Pauwels. The Fidea duo was about half a minute behind the winner. The biggest surprise of the day was Sven Nys, who dropped back quickly and abandoned the race just before he was about to enter the final lap.
The newly crowned Champion was all smiles after the race. "I am very satisfied," he told Sporza. "I wanted to win the Belgian title." This showed with his determined racing. Even in the success, he looked ahead. "I think I can win the World Cup. A lot of things have to go wrong if I can't."
Wellens celebrated an unexpected silver. "That is really nice. I thought I could be on the podium, but I was thinking about third place." He had expected Nys to be further up. "In the beginning I hesitated a bit to go with Albert." This may have been good, as Pauwels tried, but quickly found the pace to taxing and dropped back.
Wellens then rode with Pauwels and Aernouts, but gestured to them several times. "I didn't get much support from them," he explained. He knew that Albert was gone. "He was superstrong today." Wellens was extremely pleased to get the best placing behind the most dominant rider of the day.
Pauwels may have been able to provide more support to Wellens, if he wouldn't have tried to stay with Albert early on. "He was a bit stronger than me today. I had to put in an effort to stay on his wheel. I had to recuperate after my efforts," Pauwels said.
Nys had an off-day. "I had no power. I already felt it with the first pedal strokes that I had nothing in my legs," he told 2BE. "I abandoned, since even in training I am riding faster."
But Nys didn't dwell on it. "You are in top form for three months and today was an off-day. Niels is certainly the deserved winner, he rode a great race."
Albert off by himself quickly
Albert took off quickly, with only Kevin Pauwels able to follow. Albert came through the sandy sections well, eventually dropping Pauwels. Nys looked to return towards Pauwels in lap two, but dropped back for good and later gave up the race.
A trio with Pauwels, Wellens and Rabobank's Bart Aernouts was fighting hard for the remaining medals. Aernouts took a strong pull in the final lap and looked to have a good gap. But both chasers came back to keep silver and bronze in the Fidea team.
Results
1. Niels Albert 59'35
2. Bart Wellens 0'22
3. Kevin Pauwels 0'25
4. Bart Aernouts 0'47
5. Klaas Vantornout 1'05
6. Sven Vanthourenhout 1'18
7. Kenneth Van Compernolle
8. Dieter Vanthourenhout
9. Rob Peeters
10. Jan Denuwelaere
Women: Cant without problems
Sanne Cant won the expected Belgian title, almost two minutes ahead of Nancy Bober and Joyce Vanderbeken.
Unlike the men, Cant was not worried about the course being too easy. "After scouting out the parcours on Friday, I knew the strongest would win," Cant told Sportwereld. "I expected stronger opposition by Ellen Van Loy, but generally I don't have to be afraid of anybody in Belgium."
Despite being so dominant, Cant was fully concentrated. "The motivation was there. After all, it is an honor to wear the National Champion jersey."
Results
1. Sanne Cant (BKCP-Powerplus) in 38:24
2. Nancy Bober op 1:47
3. Joyce Vanderbeken 2:44
4. Ellen Van Loy 3:01
5. Anne Arnouts 3:02
Netherlands
Men: Boom takes fifth title
Lars Boom showed that he is a class by himself in the Netherlands, winning his fifth national title. He beat Gerben de Knegt and Eddy van Ijzendoorn. Boom was undeterred by his knee injury sustained last week in the GP Sven Nys and one big acceleration made the difference between himself and the rest of the riders.
Boom came out strongly. "On this fast course, you have to give it some gas," he said on rabosport.nl. "I am really happy that I won the title for the fifth time in a row. "I had a lot of fun with cyclocross in the last few weeks. It is a great diversion, but now I am switching back over to the road."
The only one who was somewhat able to keep up with Boom was his Rabobank teammate Gerben de Knegt. "It was tough and when I made a mistake in the second lap, I had to let Lars go," De Knegt said. "I tried everythign and I rode hard until the final lap. You never know what happens. I am satisfied with silver."
Women: Vos finally wins National title
Surprisingly, when Marianne Vos crossed the line, it was her first national elite cross title in the Netherlands. The world champion finally came through to beat Daphny van den Brand and Sanne van Paassen.
Vos has made efforts in the past, always coming up short. "A few times I was already close, but now it finally worked out. This is almost as nice as the world title," she told De Telegraaf. "I realized quickly that Daphny was also very strong. I tried to get away a few times, but that didn't work out. Fortunately I was able to make it in the sprint."
Germany
Men: Walsleben takes favorite's win
Philipp Walsleben (BKCP) took his third consecutive cross title, beating Christoph Pfingsten and Hannes Genze. On a rainy day, the parcours was very deep and muddy.
Pfingsten put up a strong fight against Walsleben, but the teammate from Niels Albert prevailed. "I am happy that I stayed strong in my head," Walsleben told Radsport News. "I didn't have enough air in my tires. Only after the bike change did I have a good feeling."
Walsleben accelerated in the seventh of eight laps, eventually winning by 34 seconds. Third-placed Genze is a mountainbiker, ending the day 1'24 behind the winner. Johannes Sickmüller, a former national champion, was fourth.
Women: Kupfernagel takes women's title once again
Hanka Kupfernagel won the German title, her tenth, with 39 seconds over mountainbike Olympic Champion Sabine Spitz. Sabrina Schweizer finished in third place, at 1'12.
Kupfernagel took off in lap one of five and was never seen again by the others. "Today everything was perfect," she told Radsport News. "You can't choose the weather, but it was good for me. It is more important to win the title now, as more and more younger ones are coming up."
France
Men: Francis Mourey wins French Championships for sixth time
Francis Mourey too a decisive win in the French cross nationals, beating roadie John Gadret by over a minute. The biggest surprise was that Steve Chainel, who had some very good early season races in Belgium, ended outside the podium, finishing in fourth place. He was beaten by Gadret's AG2R teammate Arnold Jeannesson.
Results
1 MOUREY Francis FDJ 1h01'33"
2 GADRET John AG2R LA MONDIALE 1h02'42" 01'09"
3 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ 1h02'59" 01'26"
4 CHAINEL Steve FDJ 1h03'54" 02'21"
5 BAZIN Nicolas BIG MAT AUBER 93 1h03'58" 02'25"
Women: Mani wins for second time
In the women's race, Mani won the sprint against Ferrand-Prévot. Christel Ferrier Bruneau completed the podium. It was Mani's second title, after already winning last year.
Results
1 MANI Caroline FRANCHE COMTE CC ETUPES LE DOUBS 44'23"
2 FERRAND PREVOT Pauline CHAMPAGNE ARDENNE AC BAZANCOURT 44'23" ' '
3 FERRIER BRUNEAU Christel LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON BEZIERS 44'39" 16"
4 TRIQUET CLAUDE Nadia LORRAINE UC BASSIN HOUILLER 46'02" 01'39"
5 DARCEL Camille PAYS DE LA LOIRE EC MAYENNAISE 46'35" 02'12"
Other winners:
Spain: Javier Ruiz de Larrinaga
Italy: Marco Aurelio Fontana
Switzerland: Christian Heule
Czech Republic: Zdenek Stybar