Wednesday April 24, 2024 at 4:03 PM
The second edition of the Fokker Battle of Woensdrecht is scheduled for this Sunday, April 28. Cycling enthusiasts do not have to be bored after a busy spring with classics. The match can be seen live via the regional channel ZuidWest TV.
A brief history
The Battle of Woensdrecht will take place for only the second time this year. It owes its name to the Second World War battle of the same name between October 7 and 16, 1944, in which Woensdrecht was liberated by the Allies and the Germans were isolated on Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland. A little later these areas would also be free again.
In the first edition of last year, Tour de Tietema-Unibet achieved a great victory with Martijn Budding. This victory will forever be remembered as the first victory of the now Dutch ProTeam. The sprinter from TDT-Unibet was too fast for the Dutch Latvian Martins Pluto (last year ABLOC CT, this yearrBEAT Cycling) and the Belgian Gil D’Heygere (last year BEAT Cycling, no longer active this year).
Participants and course
Bas Tietema’s team will not appear at the start in the municipality of Woensdrecht this year, which means that the team will not achieve a second victory. However, this year there is also a strong field of participants. For example, there are at least five Dutch Continental teams at the start with BEAT Cycling, Diftar, Metec-Solarwatt, Parkhotel Valkenburg and VolkerWessels. The runner-up of the previous edition, Martins Pluto, now plays for BEAT and is also an interesting name this year.
Although the race is only 166 kilometers long, the course with several cobblestones and many corners offers enough ingredients for a spectacular race. In particular, the two-kilometre-long cobblestone strip in the Hoogewaardpolder will serve as the executioner. Positioning seems to be the key for a good result. The race takes place entirely on a closed circuit with a length of 23.75 kilometers. The peloton does this lap seven times in total. The finish is located on top of the Scheldeweg in Hoogerheide, known for the cyclo-cross World Cup and the National Road Championships in 2018.
Where to follow?
The match starts on Sunday, April 28 at 2:15 PM and can be followed live via ZuidWestTV between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. The competition can be viewed on Ziggo channel 39, KPN channel 1420 and on the broadcaster’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. The commentary is by local reporter Pim Bruijnzeels (known from In het Wiel, among others) and Michael Boogerd, currently a co-commentator and analyst at several channels.
