Christophe De Keyser had the best Belgian performance at the ETU Europe Cup at Quarteira last weekend. CDK took seventh after being in the head of the race from start to finish. The Portuguese race is known for a difficult swim and a challenging cycling course. Christophe managed to break away with the lead pack and ran to 7th. It was the only noticeable performance by the Belgian team, even though the juniors came close to a top-10.
On Saturday Hanne De Vet and Jolien Vermeylen started with the elite women. One week ago they went head-to-head in Herderen, this weekend they were nowhere to be found. "Complete off-day," says Hanne. "Not the race I came for. No power in the legs from start to finish. On to the next one! ETU Melilla in three weeks," says Vetje. Hanne came 31st, Jolien 24th. Swiss Julie Derron won.
The male race had a strong field, with the French and Spanish in the lead role. Christophe De Keyser performed outstanding and succeeded in breaking away on the technical and hilly bike course. Having expended quite some energy he had a small fall back on the run. Spanish Antonio Benito passed in the final stages of the run and came sixth. The win went to French Dorian Coninx, Erwin Vanderplancke came 17th, Jonathan Wayaffe 24th and Belgian Champion Arthur De Jaegher 38th. Noah Servais was disqualified for not following officials instructions leading up to the race. The delegation went in appeal, but the verdict stood. Arnaud Mengal did not finish due to an upset stomach on the run.
The junior race was home for a strong Joris Basslé and Jarno Cuypers, finishing top-15. Joris came 13th, Jarno 15th. Simon Folens and Tom Van Cappellen came 26th and 27th. Antoine Vandebroek 44th, Thomas Guilmot 47th. The Belgian girls were lead by Elise Tahay in 22sn. Hanne Peeters did not finish.
Original article posted on 3athlon.be by Hans Cleemput on 26/03/2018
Translation by @T0v3