This weekend Bram Rood won his first national title mountainbike marathon. After just missing out on the title in 2011 with a second place, this year the KMC-Mitsubishi-Koga rider triumphed. Right from the start of the race, Rood shared the –initially large- lead group with favourites like Lars Boom, Jeroen Boelen and Bas Peeters.
“Rainfall in the night prior to the marathon provided a wet and tough course. Although these kinds of circumstances are not particularly enjoyable, they did make the race a challenging one and I do enjoy that. Approaching the finish line, the lead group became smaller. In the finale I managed to escape with Robby de Bock and gave everything in order to stay ahead. Since de Bock is Belgian he was no threat to the Dutch title, leaving me to finish the race for the red, white and blue jersey”, says a thrilled Rood. Ronan van Zandbeek finished second just before Rob van der Werf.
Team mate Ramses Bekkenk had a strong race too but was forced to chase the lead group due to a technical failure in the initial phase of the race. He fought back to the lead group, paying the price for his hard work in the finale where he could not sprint off with the leaders. Bekkenk eventually managed to finish seventh.
Photo: George Deswijzen