Beforehand, Jeroen Janissen had hopes of a place in the top three. The born Haarlemmer could not live up to that on his own Jan van der Hoornbaan in Haarlem. Janissen was ninth at the fifth Marathon Cup.
Janissen started the marathon season on the Jaap Edenbaan excellently by winning surprisingly. In recent weeks, he achieved lesser results, so he was eighth in Enschede, seventh in The Hague and even ninth in Haarlem. The North Hollander was also at the start in Heerenveen, but had to stop after 120 of the 125 laps.
Mass sprint
Janissen remained one of the contenders for a long time in Haarlem. He managed to escape several times with a leading group. Unfortunately for Janissen, that leading group was always retrieved by the peloton. The race therefore ended in a bunch sprint, with Gary Hekman crossing the finish line first.
The result was a setback for the Haarlemmer. “As a team we drove a great race and we did not miss a single promising breakaway. In the end it came down to a mass sprint. Unfortunately I was not involved in that.”
Next week the sixth marathon cup of the season will be ridden and the skating circus will move to Hoorn. Monday will first be a report of Jeroen Janissen’s home race.