Round 1 of the 4X ProTour in Belgium is over, and what a start to the new four cross tour it was. Thousands of people lined the track in Houffalize to watch and cheer the action.
In the women's final, Anneke Beerten, Celine Gros, Katy Curd and Lucia Oetjen lined up for the first ever 4X ProTour final. World Champion Beerten got the snap and led into turn one. Gros was in second and Curd dived inside going for second, but just could not get through. Beerten rode a flawless run and deservedly took the first win of 2012. Gros was second ahead of Kurd and Oetjen.
"What a night... [I] won the first round of the @4xprotour in Houffalize! Crowed was amazing, enjoyed ever single second of it!" said Beerten after her win.
Onto the men's final. Slavik, Mechura, Gohler and JVV lined up ready for the gate to drop. Slavik got the jump and raced Mechura on the first straight bar to bar. Slavik on the inside had the advantage and took the lead. Mechura was on him the whole lap, hounding his every move but just could not get by. Crossing the line, Slavik took the win at round 1 from Mechura and, rider of the night, Joey Van Veghel in third.
"I'm stoked with my win at first race of 4X Pro Tour,' said Slavik. "You know it's a new beginning of the world series in four cross, and it's always good to win historical first race. I'm satisfied with my performance tonight, I went smooth on track, had good gates, didn't do any mistakes... just everything went as it should go every race."
"And in general the race was awesome. There was a massive crowd cheering, good organisation, nice track and it was just a big show. I enjoyed every single second on the track. Can't wait for another race of the series in Poland."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tomas Slavik (Cze) |
| 2 | Lukas Mechura (Cze) |
| 3 | Joey Van Veghel (Ned) |
| 4 | Aiko Göhler (Ger) |
| 5 | Joost Wichman (Ned) |
| 6 | Michael Mechura (Cze) |
| 7 | Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) |
| 8 | Jakub Riha (Cze) |
| 9 | Felix Beckeman (Swe) |
| 10 | Nico Vink (Bel) |
| 11 | Petrik Brückner (Ger) |
| 12 | Jakub Hnidak (Cze) |
| 13 | Scott Beaumont (GBr) |
| 14 | Johnny Magis (Bel) |
| 15 | Nathan Parsons (GBr) |
| 16 | Premek Tejchman (Cze) |
| 17 | Daniel Prijkel (Ned) |
| 18 | Leo Combee (Ned) |
| 19 | Marek Pesko (Svk) |
| 20 | David Roberts (GBr) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Anneke Beerten (Ned) |
| 2 | Céline Gros (Fra) |
| 3 | Katy Curd (GBr) |
| 4 | Lucia Oetjen (Swi) |
| 5 | Emily Horridge (GBr) |
| 6 | Suzanne Lacey (GBr) |
| 7 | Anna Börschig (Ger) |
| 8 | Tereza Votavova (Cze) |
| 9 | Jessica Greaves (GBr) |
| 10 | Lea Schleifenbaum (Ger) |
| 11 | Verena Schacher (Ger) |
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