The Ronde van Katendrecht is the fixed gear crit with the longest history in the Dutch fixed gear crit scene and it is also the biggest crit in the NL Crits Series with extra points for the general classification (GC) and prizes. This year, the 5th edition was held and it was part of the NL Crits Series for the 3rd time. The Ronde van Katendrecht is a 2-day cycling event with various races. For this year’s edition the NL Crits Series managed to get the men’s A-crit to be the main program on Saturday. With a field that includes 3 riders that made the Super Pole in RHC BK 10, from which David van Eerd achieved a 5th place in the final, and with former RHC winner Stefan Vis, the level in the NL Crit Series is serious. On Friday the men’s B-crit was held and the women’s race. In the B-crit it was Nicolas Schaeffer from Clipin Racing Team taking the victory and being promoted to the men’s A category while in the women’s race it was Ashley Faye from La Sweat taking the win.
Text: Brian Megens
Photography: Lian van Leeuwen
In the men’s A-crit, Kaj Verhaegh started the race as the leader in the general classification. The track was fast despite having some tricky corners in it and from the start the pace was high. The first prime was taken by Luc Ducrot from FAST Amsterdam. Although some attacks were made the pack stayed together with some riders getting dropped, in the end only half of the field would finish the race. In the next prime lap it was Bram Linnartz from team WIT and David van Eerd from 8Bar who battled hard to get the prime. In the end it was David that snagged the win with a difference that couldn’t be seen by the human eye. Unintentionally, their battle for the prime actually meant that they broke away from the peloton. However, Team Fast didn’t want to give the two any space and closed the gap.
As soon as the riders were packed together, it was Brian Megens from Fixedgearcrit.com who felt it was the right time for his move and attacked taking Luc Ducrot with him. With these two rouleurs away from the peloton, with excellent cooperation, it was clear that this would be a serious break-away. David van Eerd immediately recognised the danger and went all out on his own to close the gap. David managed to join the Brian and Luc and the three of them set a steady pace and slowly widened the gap with the shrinking peloton. A couple laps later it was Bram Linnartz who attempted a brave solo to get to the front of the race but the gap was too big and the break-away was cooperating too well to let this happen.
Wit 3 laps to go it was clear that the podium would consist out of Brian, David, and Luc, the break-away group. In the last lap the group attempted a sur-place but soon they realised that the gap with the peloton wasn’t big enough to play any games. With 350 meters to Luc started a long sprint followed by Brian and David. Brian Megens went over Luc Ducrot with 75 meters to go taking the win followed by David van Eerd. Luc had to settle for 3rd, completing the podium.
Podium Men’s A:
1. Brian Megens – Fixedgearcrit.com
2. David van Eerd – 8Bar Team
3. Luc Ducrot – FAST Amsterdam
Podium Men’s B:
1. Nicolas Schaeffer – Clipin Racing Team
2. Max Schelenz – Team Street Monkey
3. Terence Driessen – Spacemonkey
1. Ashley Faye – La Sweat
2. Nathalie Simoens – FAST Amsterdam
