October 15, 2007 – The Bart Brentjens Challenge MTB Marathon took place in Eijsden, Netherlands yesterday. The Elite categories tackled the 100km race, which acted as both the Belgian and Dutch National MTB Marathon Championships. Belgium’s Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein won the overall in a three-up sprint with a time of 3:23:09. Laura Turpijn (Ned) Multivan-Merida won the women’s race in 3:53:52.

The race is named after the 1996 Olympic MTB Champion Bart Brentjens (Ned) Team Dolphin, who finished 17th overall. Brentjens was also involved in other events surrounding the race, including leading a MTB Clinic in Maastricht in the days before the marathon.

Results (brief)

Men

1. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 3:23:09
2. Axel Bult (Ned) 3:23:09
3. Frank Schotman (Ned) 3:23:09
4. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) 3:23:11
5. Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) 3:23:38

Women

1. Laura Turpijn (Ned) Multivan-Merida 3:53:52
2. Ariëlle van Meurs (Ned) 3:53:54
3. Chantal Beltman (Ned) 3:58:55
4. Anouk Kesseleer-Haarsma (Ned) 3:58:55
5. Catherine Delfosse (Bel) 4:02:15