In the twenty-seventh edition of the professional race in Nokere, 26-year-old Rik Van Slijcke from Lovendegem took over the role of leader from Etienne De Wilde and deservedly won after an exciting race in which a Polish guest team also made its mark.

The organizers of Nokere Sport were pleased with the 85 professional cyclists who showed up, especially since, in addition to national champion Etienne De Wilde, Dutch champion Peter Pieters and world cyclo-cross champion Danny De Bie were also present. In the second of the six laps that took place on the course of the upcoming Belgian championship in Waregem, fourteen riders broke away. They managed to accumulate a maximum bonus of four minutes.

At the start of the last five local laps, everything was back to square one. The Pole Mierzejewsc, Peter Spaenhoven, Daan Luyckx, Rudy Rogiers and future winner Rik Van Slycke took their chance, with success. In the penultimate lap, Van Slycke, who was still in the Gold Race on Saturday, played it safe and abandoned his teammates. On the Nokereberg climb, the Pole Mierzejewsc deservedly sprinted to second place. Ludo Giesberts came third. National champion De Wilde, who was on the podium himself in Nokere two years ago, won the group sprint.

It is also worth mentioning that the Pole Andrei Mierzejewsc felt so at home among the mass of spectators who had come to Nokereberg that he wanted to do another lap after the finish. Meanwhile, Van Slycke was deservedly waving with flowers.

JDV

Result: 54 professionals

1. Rik Van Slycke (Lovendegem) 165 km in 4h06
2. Andrzej Mierzejewski (Pol)
3. Peter Spaenhoven
4. Daan Luykx (Nl)
5. Rudy Rogiers
6. Ludo Giesberts
7. Etienne De Wilde
8. Johan Devos
9. Pascal Elaut
10. Kurt Van Keirsbulck
11. Peter Pieters (Nl)
12. Walter Dalgal (It)
13. Ronny De Meuter
14. Patrick Hendrickx
15. Marc Sprangers
16. Marc Verbeeck
17. Yvan Lamote
18. Patrick Schoovaerts
19. Peter Punt
20. Ludwig Wijnants
21. Johan De Lathouwer
22. Gino Van Hooydonck
23. Ludo De Keulenaer
24. Frank Van Himst
25. Michel Dernies
26. Danny Lippens
27. Ferdi Dierickx
28. Markus Hess (Wdl)
29. Noel Segers
30. Yves Cossemijns

Rik Van Slycke (Ghent, 3 February 1963) is a former Belgian cyclist. He was a professional from 1986 to 1999. Since then, he has been one of the Belgian team leaders at the QuickStep – Innergetic cycling team.