Grote Prijs Jef Scherens, 183.3km/114mi

Leuven, Belgium

By Cathy Mehl

The 43rd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens took place in Leuven, Belgium on Sunday over a demanding 13-lap course of a 14.1km local lap.  Each lap included a series of helligens (climbs) that proved to be the decisive factor for the overall win by Rabobank’s Lars Boom.  Maxime Vantomme (Katusha) took second and Fabian Wegmann (Milram) captured the final spot on the podium.

An early breakaway with some 35 riders included Team RadioShack’s Gert Steegmans, Fumy Beppu and Clinton Avery.  The group raced hard to stay away and eventually a split occurred in the break, the result of the tough climbs on the circuit.  Steegmans made the front split, but was too much of a threat to be welcomed in the group and dropped back to the peloton.   In the final lap the seven riders were fighting for the win, with Bjorn Leukemens choosing to attack first.  But Boom was able to outsprint him to take the win, continuing a 4-year tradition of Dutch winners in Leuven. 

Team Director Dirk Demol had high praise for Team sprinter Steegmans, saying, “Gert worked hard.  His condition is really good.  One of the next races it will be bingo for him.  But today when the seven riders went away and Steegs was part of that group, everybody looked at him.  Nobody wanted to go to the finish with Gert, so he stopped riding and went back to the peloton.”

Tomas Vaitkus and Sébastien Rosseler did not start today. Vaitkus is most likely out for the rest of season with a shoulder injury, a consequence of his crash in Algarve.  Rosseler still suffers from a hand problem.

Team Note:  Good racing is in store for Team RadioShack this week.  Wednesday is the Aartselaar / GP Van Steenbergen in Belgium.  Riders will be: Clinton Avery, Fumiyuki Beppu, Daryl Impey, Geoffroy Lequatre, Dmitriy Muravyev, Gregory Rast, Jesse Sergent and Gert Steegmans, directed by Dirk Demol.  In addition, the Pro Tour heads to Canada for the first time with two one-day races on Friday and Sunday.  The line-up for those races is Jani Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Markel Irizar, Levi Leipheimer, Tiago Machado, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia, directed by Viatcheslav Ekimov. 

Top Ten Results

1. Lars Boom (Ned/Rabobank) 183,3 km/4u09:24 (44,100 km/h)

2. Maxime Vantomme

3. Fabian Wegmann (Dui)

4. Björn Leukemans

5. Francesco Reda (Ita)

6. Paul Martens (Dui) 0:07

7. Robbie McEwen (Aus) 0:18

8.  Alexander Kristoff (Nor)

9. Stefan van Dijk (Ned)

10. Aidis Kruopis (Lit)

Team RadioShack Results

62. Gert Steegmans

105.Daryl Impey (ZAF) 0:01:59

DNF Clinton Avery

DNF Fumiyuki Beppu

DNF Dmitriy Muravyev

DNF Jesse Sergent

DNS Tomas Vaitkus

DNS Sébastien Rosseler