Lars Van der Haar wins Superprestige under 23 men in Gavere 2011- Cycling News
Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team’s Lars Van der Haar demonstrated a good performance in the under-23 men’s race in Superprestige Gavere 2011 on Sunday, November 20.
He controlled the situation of the race in the last kilometres and took a total time of 51 minutes and 15 seconds to cover the short distance.
Stan Godrie of Rabobank-Giant Off-Road was in a good form throughout. He struggled as much as he could, in the last few kilometers, to catch Van der Haar but failed and ultimately, grabbed the runner-up’s spot, 22 seconds adrift.
After winning the stage, der Haar commented on his experience. After three laps, he saw a relatively large group following him. To avoid them, he accelerated to a climb and suddenly found himself alone.
He further added that the course was quite difficult. Towards the end, he felt heavy and fatigue hit him hard but he continued with his efforts and managed to gain a lead over the other cyclists.
A group of four breakaway cyclists were successful in attaining a lead, Lars van der Haar, Stan Godrie, Arnaud Grand (Telenet-Fidea) and Jens Adams (BKCP-Powerplus).
All of them worked well until the finish-line and gained an advantage of a few seconds. However, Van der Haar increased his pace and beat the trio to take his stage victory.
Arnaud Grand finished third with a difference of 29 seconds from the race winner, ahead of Jens Adams who was 40 seconds adrift.
Michiel Van der Heyden also tried to catch the leading riders but was unable to acquire the required speed and grabbed the fifth place, ahead of Karel Hnik (Telenet-Fidea).
Previously, he took the Junior Cyclo-cross Championship and won the Superprestige # 4 juniors in Gieten. He also took the silver medal at the European Championship Cyclo-cross junior.
David Van Der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus), Jens Vandekinderen (Telenet-Fidea) and Gert-Jan Bosman (Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team) were in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth place, respectively.
After 4 rounds of the Superprestige race, Van der Haar took the overall standing with 56 points, ahead of Wietse Bosmans (BKCP-Powerplus), 43 points. Bosmans’ teammate, Gianni Vermeersch, was in the third place with 36 points.
Two stages are scheduled for today. The first is the Elite women’s race in Gavere, followed by the final Elite men’s race.
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