29 september 2011
- 02 oktober 2011
Franco-Belge
From Thursday September 29th to Sunday October 2nd, the
Franco-Belge (or Tour de Wallonie Picarde) stage race took place.
This four day stage race takes place in the border region of France
and Belgium.
The first stage took place on Thursday taking the riders over a
distance of 178.2km from Mouscron to Peruwelz. The stage was marked
by a breakaway attempt of three riders which included Koen's
teammate Ronan van Zandbeek. The four were not able to hold their
advantage and the stage was decided in a mass sprint.
Koen worked as a lead out man for his teammate Tom Veelers in the
sprint. Unfortunately it did not go as planned. Veelers finished in
7th place with Koen in 9th. It was the Australian Robbie McEwen who
won ahead of Briton Adam Blythe and German Rüdiger Seelig.
The second stage on Friday went from Menen to Poperinge over 181
kilometres. The stage ended in a mass sprint where Koen once again
led out his teammate Tom Veelers. Unlike a day earlier the sprint
worked out better with Veelers netting a fine 2nd place. Veelers
could not match Australian Chris Sutton. Koen crossed the line in
49th.
During the stage Koen won some bonification seconds and he moved
to 15th place overall.
The stage from Antoing to Ichtegem on Saturday ended after 158
kilometres with an expected mass sprint. Twice during the stage a
small group was ahead, and in the second group Ronan van Zandbeek
represented Skil-Shimano and he managed to win some bonification
seconds. When the peloton came back together the Skil-Shimano team
worked their lead out for team sprinter and man in form Tom Veelers
with Koen the final lead out man in the train. This time the old
adage of third time being lucky when Veelers outsprinted
yesterday's stage winner Chris Sutton and Frenchman Sebastian
Chavanel. Koen crossed the line in 37th place.
Not only did Veelers win the stage, he also took over the lead in
the general classification, albeit on the same time as Sutton. Van
Zandbeek is now fourth overall five seconds down and is the best
young rider while Koen is still in 15th place.
Sunday's concluding stage brought the peloton from Mons to
Tournai and it was marked by a 11 man strong breakway with Albert
Timmer representing Skil-Shimano. This leading group was caught in
the finale of the race and the race was once again decided in a
mass sprint. It was a really exciting sprint because not only was
the stage win at stake but the overall classification too as the
main contenders were separated by so little. Veelers from
Skil-Shimano led on the final day but he was tied on time with
Sutton with Robbie McEwen very close behind. Veelers started his
sprint too early, Sutton took over and closed the door on Veelers
but he did not keep an eye on McEwen who sprinted past to his
second stage win of the race and took the overall of the race too.
Sutton finished outside of the bonification seconds in 4th place
with Veelers in 6th. Koen crossed the line in 61st.
McEwen won the race overall with 5 seconds on Veelers. Despite
being tied on time with Sutton, Veelers finished came 2nd and
Sutton 3rd. Ronan van Zandbeek came 4th and was the best young
rider. Koen ended the race in 18th place, 19 seconds down on
McEwen.