Nick Thijs sprints, Hanne De Vet dominates

be3athlon (33)in #sports • 7 years ago

Yorben Verboven and Nick Thijs take the lead in Herderen (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput)

in an outside temperature of merely 2°C Nick Thijs and Hanne De Vet took the win in the first triathlon of the 2018 season. At Herderen, Nick Thijs needed a sprint to fend off Yorben Verboven, Hanne De Vet dominated from start to finish and beated Jolien Vermeylen. 134 triathletes faced these freezing temperatures for the first ‘summer’ triathlon…

Tension in the swim (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput)

After the 500m swim, in the pool of Bilzen, it became clear that this would be a fierce battle among the men. The top-10 spots were so close, with Wouter Vander Mast as the fastest in 5’55 and Robbe Janssesn, Stef Coninx, Yorben Verboven, Bert Jammaer, Maaarten Christis, Rik Malcorps, Dieter Boeye and Nick Thijs only seconds behind.

Hanne: “The cold wasn’t that bad”

Hanne De Vet taking the win in Herderen (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput)

In the female race, Jolien Vermeylen and Hanne De Vet were the two favorites, the fast swimmers even chicked the men, finishing in respectively 5’43 and 5’45. Dutch Kahina Mebarki followed already on 1’10. On the bike Hanne hopped over Jolien and was never seen again. The Atriac-athlete lost one-and-a-half minute on the Cecemel-Sportoase athlete. Hanne cruised to the first win of the season on the run.

Jolien Vermeylen and Hanne De Vet were the fastest in the water (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput)

“A big encouragement for the ETU cup at Quarteira next week. Temperature-wise it would have been better to have started at Las Palmas, but a victory is always welcome. The cold wasn’t even that bad, but the tactics were simple: surge on the bike to get the blood flowing,” says Vetje. Jolien Vermeyelen came second, and surprisingly Lien Peeters by Maaseikse Triatlonclub took thrid.

Téblick charges

Rik Malcorps abandoned the race after 300m on the bike. A flat tyre meant the end for the KTT athlete. Teammate Vince Vande Poel had a similar incident. The head of the race consisted in eight men, an eager Wouter Vander Mast, Nick Thijs and Job Téblick who managed to close the gap on the bike. Bert Jammaer followed easily, just as Robbe Janssens, Maarten Christis, Yorben Verboven and Stef Coninx (who took Adam Lambrechts starting spot). In the final lap Téblick attacked on his own and entered T2 with a small gap.

Ready before the bikestart (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput

Sprint with two

Téblick held on to the lead for one lap, but then Nick Thijs and Yorben Verboven came over, followed by Wouter Vander Mast, who had a bad transition. Bert Jammaer settled in a fifth position. With one lap to go it became clear that the battle would be fought between Nich and Yorben. The last 300m was the go for Nick to engage a sprint in which he beat Yorben. Wouter Vander Mast kept teammate Job Téblick of the podium. Atriac on 1, 3 and 4 … Ex-Ironman-pro Bert Jammaer gave an excellent performance among the youngsters and finished fifth.

Bert Jammaer going strong (picture: 3athlon.be/Hans Cleemput)