Monday, August 20, 2007

In the hills of Weiswampach, Luxembourg yesterday, the 12th International Wämper Triathlon became the setting for the national championship Olympic distance (1,5 km swimming, 40 km cycling, 10 km running) triathlon for both Belgium and Luxembourg. The Belgian championship was scheduled to take place in Vilvoorde, Belgium, but because the concentration of Salmonella bacteria in the water was too high, the Belgians moved to Luxembourg.

On Saturday, an event for children and for the handicapped took place, along with the 10 kilometre running event. On Sunday, the Juniors and the athletes for the Promotion race started the day, followed at 15:00 by the elite athletes. Even though dark clouds hung over Weiswampach most of the afternoon, there was only a short rain shower during the cycling course.

In the men’s race, Peter Croes (Belgium, Atriac team) and Dirk Bockel (Luxembourg, Celtic Diekirck team) started together for the final 10 kilometre run, but Bockel managed to outrun Croes by 23 seconds, prolonging his victory of last year. Last year’s winner, Stijn Goris from Belgium (LTTL team), came in third, followed closely by Bas Diederen from the Netherlands. Lander Dircken (Atriac, Belgium) came in fifth.

In the women’s race, the top two athletes remained the same as last year; Elisabeth “Liz” May from Luxembourg managed to stay ahead of a pursuing group the entire race, and finished first ahead of Jessica Mayon. Mayon secured the title of Belgian 1/4 Triathlon champion, in addition to the previously won Sprint Triathlon and Long Distance championships. Evelyn Williamson from New Zealand finished third.