Irene Schouten has won the first race of the Marathon Cup in a grand way. The skater from Hoogkarspel was by far the best in the traditional opening competition at the Jaap Edenbaan in Amsterdam. The men’s victory went surprisingly to Jeroen Janissen from Haarlem.
The queen of the past Winter Games took a round lead together with teammates Marijke Groenewoud and Arianna Pruisscher. Esther Kiel was also one of the trio. After the successful break, Schouten went around one more time and took another round lead. The 30-year-old skater from West-Friesland rode so sovereignly to victory.
With her victory, Schouten seizes the Jaap Eden Trophy and is also the first leader in the Marathon Cup standings.
Janissen surprises with victory
The men’s win surprisingly went to Jeroen Janissen. The 25-year-old Haarlemmer jumped away from a leading group in the last laps and was not caught up again. Bart Hoolwerf and Harm Visser completed the podium.
The ‘cauliflower king’ Ruud Slagter from Lutjebroek unfortunately did not play a significant role in his debut and left the race after 66 of the 125 round.