Dances with sprinters

  

  On friday the climax of the season for the fast men started traditionally with the short prologue in Groningen. All the big guns were warming up when snowflakes started to fall. It was looking more like Perm every minute now. The injury-prone riders were getting nervous while the men with loads of technique started to look more confident. OCM racing director Nick Lissner also mentioned that the strong headwind of 12 m/s could be a factor. But as we all know: "Nederlandse Tour doesn't wait for anybody"

  

  With loads of drunken students cheering at the Grote Markt the Queen's Commissioner Max van den Berg shot away the first rider. And this is what happened

  

  Groningen Prologue

  Altough manager Raimundas tried to downplay his chances it was clear from the beginning. Pires was the man to beat. And this is how it went down. Early on the day it was Juan LIzarraga, (Drapeau Noir) who set a real high pace and several of the stages favorites could not even get near his time. Most riders were taking more care then usual after seeing several riders fall due to the snow. When it stopped snowing, riders were willing to take more risk and still only riders in impeccable form were able to beat the LIzzard. First it was Danish Dynamite Villumsen closely followed by Nicaragua's finest Acosto. And when there were only a few riders left, roads dried up, and J.J. Dussel took the opportunity to beat Acosto by just a second. With only 2 men to finish it was Veni-Vidi-Vici man Pires being the fastest at every split with only the Sturminator to come, but "Mister Nederlandse" ran flat in the second to last corner and lost his head and expensive seconds.

  

  For stage 2 we left the hospitable city of Groningen to arrive in Hengelo after 143 windy kilometers. Hengelo the hometown of Equipe Hollandia. And for this fact alone all the men with the big thighs eyeballed Acosta. All but one! And this is how it evolved.

  Early in the stage Team Onie sent Yago Dorantes on breakeaway and only Demy Sans, Shinboners reacted quick enough to join Yago.

  

  They builded a firm lead but with only 4 km to go they knew it was no use and they were swallowed by a grupetto on fire. Spiridon Apetri was the man with the plan and he launched Acosta at the left side on the road with Pires en the Sturminator following closely at his wheel. Surely these three would end up on the podium. Only one man begged to differ. The Beast was unleashed after a very bad prologue. He went across not taking the wind in to account, and now there were sprinters everywhere. When the smoke dissolved it was Mollerup way before the surprising Sherman and Delavignette. Pires and Delavignette were leading in the GC

  

  For Hengelo - Eindhoven it was a simple strategy. The best team forces the pace all the way from start to finish. There was not a single succesfull attack which was approved by -at that time- the worlds number 1 Avery Nijholt. And if you rule the race you have to finish it. And that is what Pires did. Greenride burned his riders one by one with even injured Barateiro taking turns. At least until the final straight stretch where it was Balsemao who delivered his fellow countryman to the finishline beating J.J. Dussel with a secure margin and a real gap to young gun Sijmonds. Dussel washed away the bitter taste of defeat by claiming the O.C.M. number one spot, and maybe even better, he knew his teammates had an easy day and in this tour it is all about details

  

  Stage 4 Eindhoven - Maastricht

  Groningen Prologue is generally seen as the kings stage, but real cycling fans know that stage 4 towards Maastricht is the real clash of the titans. Where hillers meet sprinters Nijholt is the king, but not today. Like every day a Team Onie rider tries his luck and

Beltran Anaya was the first to escape from the pack and he got company from again Demy Sans (Shinboners) and Andrez Demyttenaere (Team Revolutie). The peloton was not worried at all and did not put any effort in catching the little Mexicans threesome. It was on the last hill of the day where Nijholt pulled the pack in to a much higher pace, and when the finish on the Maasboulevard got closer and closer the three in front could hear the peloton reeling them in. Within the last 100 metres Mollerup and Pires caught up and passed Demyttenaere and gave everything to beat Anaya and Sans. They failed, Sans crowned himself king of Maastricht and got rewarded for his early attack and even Anaya managed to stay ahead of the beast.

  

  Stage 5 Utrecht - Rotterdam

  Nothing was decided yet, except Sesimbra (Peddelen) looking real good to secure YC. The start in Utrecht was cold and not even a Team Onie rider felt the urge to attack. The big 2 never looked like giving in an inch and when the outerskirts of Rotterdam were reached there was no doubt this would be a head-to-head fight between the top of the GC and winning this one could mean having a real good shot at claiming top spot on the stage tomorrow in Amsterdam. The pace was kept real high and the leadout-trains possitioned themselves and it was the Dutch Cannon Dussel himself before the surprising Studsgaar and Delavignette who had his birthday today. Once again Pires failed head-to-head and manager Raimundas knew with Dussel in the lead by 2" with one stage to go there really is only 1 option now for Pires: victory!

  

  Stage 6 Paraderace Den Haag - Amsterdam

  The day after the night before. It is rumored some riders had a little too much at Delavignettes birthdayparty. Mollerup had not even showered before signing in for todays stage. Some reporters noticed that Delavignette and his leadouts actually looked a lot sharper then his competitors.

  Altough the route to amsterdam was slowpaced like a real paraderace it was no secret Pires would try everything to secure a last minute victory claiming both the stage and GC. On the local circuit some riders tried an all-out attack but that just was useless. As the riders got near the finishline on "De Dam" Shinboners sent his team forward in an attempt to make Sturmann shine once more in Nederlandse. In the last round it was Ultrajectums team taking over looking much fitter then the other teams. On the last straight but very technical stretch it was Delavignette himself who launched a sprint from the head of the peloton and this fact surprised both Pires and Dussel who never got close. The rider who would claim second place would win this years edition and it was so close a finishphoto was needed to give the final verdict: J.J. Dussel is the first Dutch rider to win Nederlandse tour and does this as O.C.M.'s number 1!

  

  The aftermath
  

  Peddelens manager Petoi reacted to this victory: "Dream coming true, when I started this game and saw there was a tour in the Netherlands and no dutchman had ever won it I made it my goal to be the first to win it with a dutchman, knowing Dussel could do it. Very happy I succeeded in my goal." And then he breaks down in tears, forgetting to mention Sesimbra's victory in YC.

  Cycling magazine was trying to reach Pires and get his response too, but he had a massive headache from the party the night before the final stage and he went to bed.

  Ultrajectums manager Pees Criem was very satisfied and stressed the fact that reserved spots are a good thing: "At the signup of this tour we were a division 3 team and we showed the world it is possible to compete at an higher level just by focussing and dedication"

  

  
  
  
  Written by pundit Pees Criem from ultrajectum to OCM Magazine