A beautiful course of thirty kilometers and more than 500 meters of elevation had to be completed three times today during the mountain bike marathon in Amerongen. Tim Smeenge was the strongest and finished in three hours and seven minutes. Wim de Bruin was the fastest sprinter of the three pursuers and referred Teus Ruijter and Chris van Dijk to third and fourth place. Gerben Mos came in 9th and Rozanne Slik in 6th.
‘The first two laps we were with the four of us. Going into the last lap I accelerated on a climb and pulled away and managed to extend my lead to the finish. Next week I will start close to home in the Hondsrug classic in Gasselte where I became Dutch Champion last year. The National Championship marathon during the Bart Brentjens Classic is on my program on October 8 and I will do everything I can to prolong my title,” said Smeenge.