Peter Merx won the Ronde van Winsum twice. On Wednesday evening, De Kolibrie van Warfhuizen had to watch with a painful sit bone as his teammates from NWVG finished third, fourth and fifth. Next year, the old bird still wants to complete his hat-trick.
Forty participants will be at the start in Winsum this Wednesday evening. It has sometimes been busier, but where one criterion after another is canceled due to disappointing numbers of participants, the Ronde van Winsum continues as usual.
With Joeri Fledderus, Bodi del Grosso, Mark Prinsen and Guillaume Visser, there are also some top riders at the start. But along the course, behind the crush barriers, is perhaps the tallest of the bunch: Peter Merx, nicknamed Warfhuizen Hummingbird . The 35-year-old rider has already won the criterion twice. A sore sit bone keeps him sidelined this time. As sports director of NWVG, he now encourages the twelve riders of his team who are at the start.
The Kilobrie
The sit bone is sitting The Hummingbird been bothering for months. The sports doctor advised him not to cycle for a while. Swimming and running, yes. ,,Swimming is for fishing, so I started walking”, laughs Merx, who still looks fit. He himself thinks otherwise. “If I put on a cycling shirt now, it really doesn’t look good. If I want to cycle again, I still have to finish quite a bit.” Some people already mock Merx The Kilobrie named.
Tactics
In 2014 and 2017, Merx won in his backyard. Now he hopes to see someone win from NWVG as a sports director. No easy task, because the two toppers, Sjors Dekker (winner in Winsum in 2022) and Stef Krul have to miss out. ,,Those were our leaders”, says Merx. “But one man’s death is another man’s bread. I said in the preliminary meeting that now one of the other twelve can win.”
As Merx walks around the course, he explains the team tactics. ,,Of course we have to have a man with us.” As he says it, Visser – not a member of NWVG – rides alone in front of the peloton. “Dangerous,” says Merx. “Last week he single-handedly doubled an entire platoon. They shouldn’t let him go.”
That doesn’t happen either. Visser is caught up after a few laps and a few laps later a leading group of five men is formed, with three riders from NWVG: Sjoerd Hollander, Adne Koster and Harry Sweering. The group drives further and further away from the peloton. ,,In any case, a podium place, so”, says Merx.
Jopke Nainhoes
The riders rush past, while Merx is tipped over for a chat every now and then. The two-time winner has not yet been forgotten in Winsum. At Jopke Nainhoes he pauses a little longer. The former weatherman of RTV Noord sits along the course with a red flag, letting the spectators know that riders are approaching. When a woman wants to cross the course with her car, but is stopped by a crush barrier behind Nainhoes, he says that passing is not possible. ,,But I have a box of ice creams in the car,” says the woman, dismayed. The friendly Nainhoes immediately pushes the gate aside and lets her pass.
Knocked in the sprint
Meanwhile, the lead of the leading group is growing. The three riders of NWVG, complemented by Visser and Fledderus, will decide who wins the Ronde van Winsum. ,,The other two are better in the sprint, so ours should now alternately try to jump away”, says Merx. “Of course that is much easier said than done.”
It therefore does not work. Harry Sweering, nicknamed The Flash of Snits , is the first to come out of the corner towards the finish in the last lap, but is not up to the sprint violence of Joeri Fledderus and Guillaume Visser, both from Heerenveen. Fledderus finally pushes his front wheel over the line first.
Hat trick
So no winner of NWVG in 2023, but that could just be different next year. Merx hasn’t said goodbye to the bike yet. He does not want to stop because of a painful sit bone. ,,I don’t want to stop like this.” He wants to say goodbye on the bike and preferably with a third victory in ‘his’ Winsum.