This Sunday, five riders of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team participated in the final events of the European Championships which were organized this weekend on the Col du VAM in Drenthe (The Netherlands). One day after the solid performance of the male trio in the U23 category, it was Marie Schreiber’s turn to race in the U23 Women’s race, before Quinten Hermans, (Belgium), Kevin Kuhn (Switzerland), Thomas Mein (Great-Britain) and Corné Van Kessel (The Netherlands) concluded the event.
Marie Schreiber, representing Luxembourg, brilliantly performed in the continuation of her victory in Contern one week before. The 18 year old showed courage on the muddy parcours in her first championship in the U23 category and finished 7th.
The quartet of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team lined up for the Elite Men’s race at 15h. The start was marked by a big crash in which Kevin Kuhn was involved. The Swiss rider had to run back to the pits and lost precious time. Also Corné van Kessel had bad luck, because he was forced to abandon after he crashed into the barriers. But Quinten Hermans, in contrary, led the race from the first lap. Progressively, he set the rhythm and dropped his competitors one by one.
After an impressive acceleration on the Col du VAM halfway through the race, Hermans was alone in the race lead with an advantage of 15 seconds. With the support of the home crowd, Dutchman Lars van der Haar managed to join the Belgian rider two laps before the end. He overtook Hermans and defeated the Belgian rider with 25 seconds. Despite his difficult beginning of the race, Kevin Kuhn kept battling and finished in 14th place.
« On this parcours, riders were ranked according to strength during the race today. Gaps were made halfway through the race already and that's how I like it. When we managed to escape, Toon Aerts, Michael Vanthourenhout and myself, we thought everything was under control for the Belgian team. But that was without taking Lars van der Haar into account. When I saw that my compatriots were slowing down uphill, I dropped them with only one attack. However, the Dutchman managed to join me, showing that he had very good legs. At that moment, I knew that it would be difficult to win the title. Everyone saw that I prepared this championship well. All circumstances were perfect for me, so it's a pity that one rider was stronger than me on this particular day. Even though I really wanted that title, it's nice to win my first championship medal in the elite category! »
« I'm very happy, because today I could show what I'm capable of. At one moment, I wasn't far from the top 5, but I lost precious time when a barrier fell on the course because of the wind. The parcours was difficult and the windy circumstances made the race even harder. Especially on the climb because it was a headwind and even in the turns it wasn't easy to control the bike. I think this was a good performance for an 18 year old, so I'm looking forward to the next races! »
