Veerle Ingels Gets GOLD at Provincial Championships

Last Saturday, Veerle and Christine competed in the 2009 East Flanders Provincial Championships held  at the Ereprijs 'Albert Van Damme' cross race in Laarne.  Veerle was competing for the title while Christine was there in support. 

The course was fast and dry with rolling twists and turns that wrapped through a corn farm riddled with cut stalks adding an extra technical factor to the race. Adding to the excitement were Junior boys whose race started in conjunction with the women.

Thanks to those top juniors the start was fast and frantic.  From the gun, Veerle and Christine got a gap on the rest of the womens field and held it until the end.  Veerle crossed the line for the win and Christine was 2nd - a great day out for the team.  Christine wasnt able to join Veerle on the podium as it was reserved for those gals living in the East Flanders district.

This was an excellent preparation for the team going into the next World Cup round held this Saturday in Koksijde, Belgium.

Please come out to cheer the team on! All yells of support are welcome!

photos below taken by Cindy Nagels, photo above from Vlaamse Cyclocross Cup

Superprestige Asper-Gavere

The gals were back out last Sunday flying the Zannata-Champion System colors at Superprestige's Asper-Gavere.  Although the mud wasnt as bad as it was last year, that didnt stop the crashes from happening.  From the first lap, women were steadily hitting the ground.  Luckily our gals finished the race in one piece.  Veerle came back from a slow start to finish just out of the top 10 in 11th place, behind Pavla Havlikova.  It was a very strong finish in a star-studded field where the podium was filled with Katie Compton, Marianne Vos and Daphny Van den Brand.

Christine had a good start and was on the wheel of Belgian Champ Joyce Vanderbeken and Pavla going into the second lap.  Unfortunately that lap was the last she saw of the gals.  At the bottom of the muddy extended climb, her rear deraileur snapped off and buried itself in the spokes of her wheel, forcing her to run the whole climb and into the pit.  With only one bike for the rest of the race, she rode defensively, doing her best to keep the bike healthy enough to make it to the finish.  At the end, she was 14th.

To read Christine's race report published on CYCLOCROSS Magazine, click HERE!

To read CYCLOCROSS Magazine's coverage of the women's race, click HERE!

Their next big race is Koksijde World Cup on 28 November.

Thanks for your support!

(veerle photo: Ali Verleyen, christine photo: Mario Yskout)

Fidea's Jaarmaarktcross Niel

Yesterday the team started at Fidea's Jaarmaarktcross.  The race was added to the women's calendar at the last minute thanks to Golazo Sports President Christophe Impens.  Traditionally the course is completely covered in 25 centimeters of mud, making it a spectacular event.  But without the mud, it was basically a road race. The guys were averaging 30.7kph if that gives you a better idea of the highway racing!

The start was fast and frantic.  And within 30 seconds into the race, the riders were dumped into a long stretch of dirt with only one good line. Unfortunately both Veerle and Christine had not the best start and hit the dirt far back in the field.  By the time the course opened up for passing opportunities, the gaps were in place. Even so, Veerle was quite successful in passing many riders to finish in a solid 13th place.   Back problems did hold her back though from doing even better!  Christine finished one spot behind in 14th.
(photos courtesy of Cindy Nagels)

Their next race is Superprestige's Asper-Gavere in Belgium.  This is the race where Niels Albert almost ended his season last year due to a crash on the treacherous mud chute.

On a side note, during Christine's pre-ride, while checking out a tricky section on the course, she heard someone yell to her, "Nice bike!"  So natually due to her sociable personality, she responded, "yeah, it's designed by some famous guy who won world championships five times.  And all the belgians always talk about him.  I cant remember his name but i heard he's a real hottie - ooh la la!!"  They all laughed while a guy amongst them pointed at himself while beaming from ear to ear. Yes, it was Roland Liboton himself standing on the sidelines!

To read more, visit the gals' blogs.  Links to their blogs are on the right side of this blog.

Thanks for your support!