Willy Teirlinck’s team continues to perform well. On Saturday, Haghedooren made a good impression in the Gold Race, and yesterday in pastoral Nokere, they achieved a double victory. Standout rider Franky Van Oyen ceded the victory to his teammate Etienne De Wilde. Van Oyen’s altruism gains even more significance when one considers that the East Flemish champion’s jersey was also associated with this victory.
Sigma is once again high in the rankings. The now significantly strengthened Willy Teirlinck, with his new team, is generating considerable positive publicity.At the start of the season, the media looked down somewhat smugly on what was essentially a collection of complete and partial failures, or so they said. That past criticism still weighs heavily on Teirlinck. Meanwhile, employer Sigma, which links much complementary publicity to its cycling sponsorship, notes with satisfaction a growing brand awareness. The results so far appear to justify the investment, estimated at around twenty million.
Yesterday, De Wilde received his consolation prize from teammate Van Oyen for his unfortunate second place in Gent-Wevelgem. The denouement was reminiscent of what Eric Vanderaerden and Eddy Planckaert staged two years ago in Waregem at the end of Dwars door België. Van Oyen, already a three-time winner this season, was content that Tienne won and gave him a decisive nudge on Nokereberg, ten meters from the finish line. Such conduct naturally raises questions purely from a sporting perspective. From the moment Van Oyen and De Wilde had broken away – about 20 kilometers from the finish – the on-duty announcer at the finish had tirelessly made a theoretical assessment of their respective chances for a sprint victory. “De Wilde is intrinsically the fastest, Ladies and Gentlemen, but on the other hand, this was a tough final cobbled climb, and Van Oyen is so strong,” it was said. Of course, little remains of those previews when the two protagonists glide like sweet angels towards the banner. The crowd would probably have preferred a full-on sprint.
The crowd was indeed back in Nokere, to the great relief of the organizers, who had to yield to Bavikhove for their anniversary edition of Nokere-Koers and organized it on a Sunday for the first time. The local organizers’ hearts sank upon realizing that only 49 riders had registered. Only in the very first edition in 1963 had there been fewer participants. Now, everything revolved around four teams: Sigma, ADR, Teve-blad, and Panasonic, which increasingly deploys its Grand Tour riders. And there was also the individual rider Edwig Van Hooydonck, who would play his part.
Fortunately for the organizers, the riders went all out on the beautiful but challenging course. After a long training flight by Guy Nulens, Van Hooydonck and Van Oyen led the first major selection. De Wilde, who had missed the train, rectified the situation with five others. With more than forty kilometers to go, Van Hooydonck tried to break away on his own. He failed and immediately saw the decisive breakaway of eight riders pass him by.
During that breakaway, De Wilde informed Van Oyen that he would like to win.
Van Oyen immediately agreed, but then he nevertheless attacked. To his considerable surprise, De Wilde counter-attacked and fought his way alone to him. A promise must be kept, and Van Oyen allowed De Wilde to take his second victory this season. Whether an ambitious rider – and Van Oyen appears to be increasingly so – could be entirely happy with that, is, of course, another question.
Rik Vanwalleghem
Results: 49 professional riders
1. Etienne De Wilde (Laarne) 180 km in 4h 32 min
2. Frankie Van Oyen
3. Ludo Giesberts at 30″
4. Dirk Heirweg
5. Ludo De Keulenaar
6. Eric Breukink (Nl)
7. Bert Oosterbosch (Nl)
8. Eddy Vanhaerens
9. Dirk Krikilion at 1’20”
10. Edwig Van Hooydonck
11. Patrick Versluys
12. Willem Wijnant
13. Walter Van den Branden at 3’45”
14. Ferdi Dierickx
15. Alain De Roo
16. Peter Winnen (Nl)
17. Dirk Durant
18. Pascal van der Vorst
19. John Dekeukelaere
20. Patrick Verplancke
21. William Tackaert
22. Luc De Smet
23. Marc Van Geel
24. Koenraad Van Rooy
25. Philippe Boulanger
26. Frankie Pattyn
27. Etienne De Beule
28. Rik Van Slijcke
29. Marnix Lameire
30. Stan Tourné
Etienne De Wilde (Wetteren, March 25, 1958) is a former Belgian cyclist. During his career, De Wilde regularly won Six-Day Races. He continued this even after retiring as a road cyclist and won a silver medal in track cycling at the Olympic Games in Sydney.
