RONSE, Belgium—Mechanical incidents were the theme of the day today at the GP Mario de Clercq, the first stop of the DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series (formerly Bpost Bank). Jammed and dropped chains plagued racers, while what appears to be a broken pedal axle crippled a certain victory in the men’s race [See video highlights here].
De Jong Delights at De Clercq
2016 Cyclocross World Champion Thalita De Jong showed that she hasn’t lost a step despite not stepping onto a cyclocross course this season until today’s first stop of the IJsboerke Ladies Trophy in Ronse.
De Jong powered away from Sanne Cant, Sophie de Boer and the rest of the field, opening up a huge gap of more than 30 seconds until a jammed chain looked to derail her season-opening victory. De Jong raced to the reset her chain, seeing her chances of winning fade, but had enough time to hold off her chasers and regain her advantage.
Sanne Cant outsprinted de Boer for second. American Elle Anderson was in 17th.
Indrukwekkende zege van wereldkampioene @ThalitadeJong https://t.co/GvOzte1R7L
— DVV Trofee (@DVVtrofee) October 9, 2016
Dueling Mechanicals Halt van Aert and van der Poel
In a season that looks set to deliver plenty of two-man battles for supremacy, two mechanical incidents prevented what spectators were craving: another last-lap duel between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert like we saw at Superprestige Gieten last week.
Instead, midway through the race, van Aert dropped his chain yet again and lost twenty seconds, while van der Poel looked to take advantage and ride away to a solo victory.
Instead, this happened:
Oei. Mathieu van der Poel zet zoveel kracht op zijn pedaal dat ie eraf knalt. Was op weg naar derde zege op rij #dvvtrofee #veldrijden pic.twitter.com/O9Ht80IMoO
— Rijcko Treep (@RijckoTreep) October 9, 2016
In what initially appears to be a broken pedal axle (stay tuned), van der Poel was immediately grounded and ended up on foot (although one-leg pedaling was an option). It was just the opportunity for van Aert to return to the front, and strike first at the DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series. With van Aert’s win, both 2016 Cyclocross World Champs reigned in Ronse.
American Caleb Thompson was the sole American in the men’s field, finishing 31st.
See a race highlight video from the men’s race at the 2016 GP Mario de Clercq here. Full women’s results and men’s results below.
2016 GP Mario de Clercq Results - Ronse - DVV Trofee Race #1 - Elite Women
| pl | rider | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thalita De Jong | Rabobank-Liv | 00:44:39 |
| 2 | Sanne Cant | IKO Enertherm-Beobank | 00:00:22 |
| 3 | Sophie De Boer | Kalas-NNOF | 00:00:25 |
| 4 | Pavla Havlikova | MRM Avalon Pro Cycling | 00:00:29 |
| 5 | Lucinda Brand | 00:00:36 | |
| 6 | Jolien Verschueren | Telenet Fidea Lions | 00:00:36 |
| 7 | Nikki Brammeier | Boels-Dolmans | 00:00:51 |
| 8 | Ellen Van Loy | Telenet Fidea Lions | 00:00:51 |
| 9 | Maud Kaptheijns | Team Steylaerts | 00:00:57 |
| 10 | Laura Verdonschot | Marlux-Napoleon Games | 00:02:12 |
| 11 | Inge Van Der Heijden | 00:02:20 | |
| 12 | Karen Verhestraeten | Lares-WoawDeals | 00:02:29 |
| 13 | Loes Sels | Telenet Fidea Lions | 00:02:44 |
| 14 | Alicia Franck | 00:03:03 | |
| 15 | Pauline Delhaye | 00:03:16 | |
| 16 | Manon Bakker | 00:03:28 | |
| 17 | Elle Anderson | 00:03:37 | |
| 18 | Yara Kastelijn | 00:03:54 | |
| 19 | Geerte Hoeke | 00:04:00 | |
| 20 | Linda Ter Beek | 00:04:12 | |
| 21 | Githa Michiels | 00:04:22 | |
| 22 | Lizzy Witlox | 00:04:58 | |
| 23 | Kim Van De Steene | 00:05:04 | |
| 24 | Esther Van Der Burg | 00:05:40 | |
| 25 | Axelle Bellaert | AA Drink-Kalas | 00:06:02 |
| 26 | Suzanne Verhoeven | 00:06:31 | |
| 27 | Eva Maria Palm | AA Drink-Kalas | 00:07:40 |
2016 GP Mario de Clercq Results - Ronse - DVV Trofee Race #1 - Elite Men
| Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wout VAN AERT | BEL | 23 | 1:02:01 | 80 | |
| 2 | Jens ADAMS | BEL | 25 | 1:02:32 | 60 | |
| 3 | Michael VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 24 | 1:02:37 | 40 | |
| 4 | Mathieu VAN DER POEL | NED | 22 | 1:02:56 | 30 | |
| 5 | Kevin PAUWELS | BEL | 33 | 1:02:59 | 25 | |
| 6 | Lars VAN DER HAAR | NED | 26 | 1:03:05 | 20 | |
| 7 | Toon AERTS | BEL | 24 | 1:03:16 | 17 | |
| 8 | Klaas VANTORNOUT | BEL | 35 | 1:03:34 | 15 | |
| 9 | Tom MEEUSEN | BEL | 29 | 1:03:34 | 12 | |
| 10 | Gianni VERMEERSCH | BEL | 25 | 1:03:39 | 10 | |
| 11 | Corne VAN KESSEL | NED | 26 | 1:03:55 | 8 | |
| 12 | Tim MERLIER | BEL | 25 | 1:04:04 | 6 | |
| 13 | Wietse BOSMANS | BEL | 26 | 1:04:05 | 4 | |
| 14 | Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 32 | 1:04:06 | 2 | |
| 15 | Thijs VAN AMERONGEN | NED | 31 | 1:04:06 | 1 | |
| 16 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | 24 | 1:04:31 | ||
| 17 | Philipp WALSLEBEN | GER | 30 | 1:05:04 | ||
| 18 | Twan VAN DEN BRAND | NED | 28 | 1:05:23 | ||
| 19 | Jim AERNOUTS | BEL | 28 | 1:05:45 | ||
| 20 | Patrick VAN LEEUWEN | NED | 32 | 1:05:58 | ||
| 21 | Jens VANDEKINDEREN | BEL | 24 | 1:06:08 | ||
| 22 | Michael BOROS | CZE | 25 | 1:06:28 | ||
| 23 | Quincy VENS | BEL | 31 | 1:06:31 | ||
| 24 | Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ | ESP | 38 | 1:06:37 | ||
| 25 | Rob PEETERS | BEL | 32 | 1:06:54 | ||
| 26 | Mariusz GIL | POL | 34 | 1:07:32 | ||
| 27 | Vincent BAESTAENS | BEL | 28 | 1:08:35 | ||
| 28 | Dario TIELEN | BEL | 23 | |||
| 29 | Mathieu WILLEMYNS | BEL | 27 | |||
| 30 | Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE | BEL | 29 | |||
| 31 | Caleb THOMPSON | USA | 34 | |||
