March 18/08 11:17 am - Team R.A.C.E. in Europe

Posted by Editor on 03/18/08
 

Team R.A.C.E. in Europe - Lillers, Wanzele & Kemzeke
Reports courtesy Team R.A.C.E.

Three races have gone by since our last race report: Grand Prix de Lillers, Wanzele Koerse and Omloop van het Wassland.

Each race, the team shows improvment. Most of all riders are now finishing the races. Ryan is solid and has finished every race 'in the hunt'. All the races have been challenging conditions, hard wind, cold rain, tight roads, cobblestone sections and high level of competition.

Sunday March 9th - Lillers, Pas-de-Calais, France

The team crossed over to France for the 44th Grand Prix de Lillers - Souvenir Bruno Comini, a UCI 1.2 event of 163,5km over few hills and narrow roads. It was cold and pouring rain from the start to the end. 170 riders were at the start line. Like any other Europe spring races, the pack was aggressive and attacks started from the first kilometres. Unfortunately, Joël got caught in a crash at the beginning of the second of 3 laps over few hills. He got back on his bike and it's only once on the hills that he notice his rear derailleur [was] bent. Calling for mechanic support from our team car, he was following in between cars in the caravan. For a fraction of second he glanced back to see if the team car was there and when he looked back ahead, the car in front of him had applied the brakes and Joël went head first into the rear window of the car. Obviously shocked, he was sitting on the road, when our team car came up. Even though he had no major injuries (thanks to his Giro Ionos helmet!), it was clear that Joël was not going back on his bike for this race. He had no injuries, beside the abrasions from his previous crash of the day. He's doing much better at the moment. Still, he is a bit uncomfortable, but his fitness is there. Getting into the back window of a car is the nightmare of 9/10 riders.

Domenik Klemme of 3C Guppe who won the final sprint and Ryan finished 27th among the peloton. Only 56 riders finished the race that day. The average speed was 42.5 Km/h.

Back in January, we were selected among 24 other teams (of 45 applicants) by the organiser.

1. Dominik Klemme (Ger) 3C Gruppe, 3:49:56
2. Benoit Daeninck (Fra) CC Nogent/Oise
3. Matthias Friedemann (Ger) 3C Gruppe
4. Kalvis Eisaks (Lat) Rietumu Bank - Riga
5. Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental
6. Jan Bluekens (Bel) Profel
7. Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn
8. David Skrzypczak (Fra) Nord-Pas de Calais
9. Dennis Pohl (Ger) 3C Gruppe
10. Felix Odebrecht (Ger) Atlas Romers Hausbäckerei

27 Ryan Roth (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro

Wednesday March 12th - Wanzele, East-Flanders, Belgium

Team R.A.C.E Pro participated to Wanzele Koerse, a 163km national race composed of 16 laps of 10km. The team felt good. We had dry conditions for the first time, but a radical head wind was blowing through the finish line. The guys were in the game. Buck and Dan show up in front trying to create some action to chase the breakaway which had over a minute on the peloton. Johnny Hoogerland from Netherland won the sprint after 3:54:41 at an average 41.8km/h. Three of Team R.A.C.E. finished.

1. Johny Hoogerland (Ned) VVE, 3:54:41
2. Johan Coenen (Bel) TSV, at 0:20
3. Jens Mouris (Ned) MIT
4. Aart Vierhouten (Ned) FPT, both s.t.
5. Kristof Goddaert (Bel) TSV, 1:31
6. Geert Omloop (Bel) MIT
7. Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) TSV
8. Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) MIT, all s.t.
9. Tom Criel (Bel) CYC, 2:10
10. Bert De Backer (Bel) EL2, 5:20

23. Ryan Roth (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
36. Mark Pozniak (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
51. Dustin MacBurnie (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro

Sunday, March 16th - Kemzeke, East-Flanders, Belgium

Our fourth race so far, the 44th Omloop van het Waasland-Kemzeke, the same town where Eddy Merckx rode his last cycling race. The team did very well in a difficult 191 km race. Five men finished in the peloton in a bunch sprint finish. Only 103 guys finished out of 200 starters. Buck had a bad luck with a flat in early cobblestones section and did not have a chance to come back. Joël was not quite in the game and did not finish. Ryan who has been riding really well since the beginning of our European project had some mechanicals on last lap. Therefore he was cautious and didn't take any risk at the final. For the third year in a row, the Belgian Nico Eeckhout of team Topsport Vlaanderen won the finishing sprint after four hours fifteen minutes at an average of 44,941km/h. It is our team best showing so far with solid progress. Most finished among the peloton.

1. Niko Eeckhout (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
2. Bobbie Traksel (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus
3. Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Rabobank Continental
4. Jurgen Van Loocke (Bel) Willems Veranda's Continental Team
5. Bram Schmitz (Ned) Van Vliet - EBH Elshof
6. Dennis Pohl (Ger) Team 3C - Gruppe Lamonta
7. Thomas Ongena (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team
8. Marco Brus (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels
9. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental
10. Kalvis Eisaks (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga

26. Mark Walters (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
49. Mark Pozniak (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
82. Ryan Roth (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
89. Dan Timmerman (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro
98. Dustin MacBurnie (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Pro

Wednesday is the Big Day! Our last race in Belgium is the Nokere Koerse UCI 1.1. The team will be racing against Pro Tour teams: local teams Quick Step and Silence Lotto and Rabobank, AG2R, High Road, and many others. This is a big test for the team before the Tour de Normandie. For tomorrow the forecast is for continued inclement weather: 7C high with chance of hail and rain showers.