The ‘Nacht van de Waarderpolder’ was already the sixth race this season of the NL Crit Series. As a lot of other crits were taking place the riders field was smaller than usual with 6 women, and 40 men divided over the A and B category. The race took place in industrial park making it a very fast course with 4 wide corners. To support the crowdfunding of Louis Legon’s recovery the primes of the race were voluntarily donated by the winners.
Photography: Merlijn Spenkelink/Steve where’s Tom?
Text: Merlijn Spenkelink/Brian Megens
Men’s B/Women’s race
The pace was kept high throughout the entire race which made it hard to escape. Coen Kloosters and Erwin Kersten managed to keep a gap for a couple of rounds, but it was closed with two laps to go. Tanja Erath was very close in winning 2 races in 1 as she was just beaten on the finish line in the bunch sprint by Max Schelenz who needed a final jump to do so. Thomas Fontijn got 3rd which meant a 2nd place in the men’s B, and Renwil Molina complemented the podium. Tanja Erath was the first woman, and she also claimed the second place of the entire field and the prime! Together with Ashley Faye and Lisa Wörner they managed to stay in the peloton the entire time. In the sprint Ashley just beat Lisa by half a wheel to claim 2nd place followed by Lisa who took the last spot on the podium.
Men’s A race
With strong riders like David van Eerd and Luc Ducrot not being present in the race it was interesting to see how it would develop. Right from the start the pace was high and it was Olaf Wit who took the prime. After the prime it was Brian Megens who attacked and broke away from the bunch several times but never managed to make a decisive break-away. His attempts were followed by Rick Nobel who pedalled solo for some laps but also couldn’t stay away from the peloton on such a fast pace course, nor could Timon de Koning create a decisive break-away. With 5 laps to go Stefan Vis set the pace to avoid more attacks from happening. However, with 2 laps to go it was Brian Megens who attacked straight from the front and went solo. Bram Linnartz from team WIT immediately recognised the danger and broke away from the bunch to bridge the gap to Brian. Bram managed to get to the front and with 1 lap to go it was clear that the victory would be for one of the two. Bram attacked with just under a lap to go and Brian chased him, but never had the punch to go over. With both Bram and Brian coming out of the last corner it was Bram who easily won the sprint taking his first victory of the season with Brian coming in 2nd followed by Jan Hoffman winning the bunch sprint. In the GC it is Edwin van Kerkhof who defended his leaders jersey successfully.
Podium Men’s A
1. Bram Linnartz
2. Brian Megens
3. Jan Hoffmann
Podium Women’s
1. Tanja Erath
2. Ashley Faye
3. Lisa Wörner
Podium Men’s B
1. Max Schelenz
2. Thomas Fontijn
3. Renwil Molina
