Another traditional cyclo-cross race, the Azencross (Aces 'Cross) in
Loenhout always takes place on the Wednesday between Christmas and New
Year. The course is very flat, all climbs are artificial (and short).
The Azencross has a tradition of introducing a new and hopefully
exciting course feature every year. This time they have included a
washboard, better known from BMX or motocross. Many riders started out
in BMX and don't have any complaints. Old-fashioned 'cross man
Groenendaal grunts: "Humbug!" But in the end, everyone agrees it will
be neither dangerous nor decisive because the washboard directly
follows a very slow mud section.
After Oudenaarde (Nov 1), Niel (Nov 11) and Essen (Dec 18), Loenhout is
round four in the 'Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee', a series of seven
cyclo- cross races. This is independent of the World Cup or
Superprestige series. Still to come: Baal (Jan 1), Lille (Feb 5),
Oostmalle (Feb 20). Groenendaal leads the series coming into the
Azencross.
Huge controversy from lap 6 onwards (7:30 min into file 2). Groenendaal
wants to ride into the boxes for a bike change but an almost-lapped
rider slips right in front of him and blocks the way. Groenendaal takes
a split- second decision to go left of the dividing post, onto the
regular course, but then jumps over the fence to get to his team. The
attending official reports the incident and the (French) head of the
UCI jury decides that Groenendaal should be disqualified. At the end of
lap 7 an official at the finish line gestures towards Groenendaal to
stop racing, but nothing is enforced. Father Rein Groenendaal is very
upset, commentator Wuyts thinks the jury should let Groenendaal
continue because he was "forced" to take a detour and didn't gain an
advantage. Herijgers and Liboton take a more cautious approach and say
it would be a shame, but that the decision is justified according to
the letter of the law. In the (first?) official results Groenendaal is
left out, but the three finishers nearest to him are all of the opinion
that he should be included, even if it meant they lost a place in this
'cross, or the series. Last word was that the jury was reconvening.
Uploading now to news:alt.binaries.multimedia.sports
Probably to the webserver in a day or two.
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