Etten-Leur, Criterium

Servais Knaven in his last race

This coming Sunday (15 August) will see the starting signal for the farewell race for veteran Servais Knaven in Etten-Leur. Many active riders and ex-professionals are going to follow the invitation by the organizer ''Profwielerronde Etten-Leur''. A variety program featuring several youth and celebrity races rounds off the sporting side of Knaven's farewell event.

While some of his team-mates will at the same time be at the start of the ProTour race Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, Servais Knaven will be joined by his colleagues Niki Terpstra, Wim De Vocht and Wim Stroetinga in his last performance. The quartet will be leading an illustrous field: among others, Luxembourger Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso have confirmed their start. Of course, several former companions and ex-pros are going to pay their tribute to Knaven too.

One of the most senior riders is leaving the international peloton after 17 years as a professional cyclist. Among the successes of his long career range the Dutch national championship in 1995, a stage victory at the Tour de France in 2003 and his triumph of 2001, when he finished ''his'' classic Paris-Roubaix for a record-breaking 16th time. When he crossed the finish line in the Velodrome in Roubaix, he drew level with Raymond Impanis. The Belgian however, born in 1925, may have been at the start of Paris-Roubaix more often than Knaven, but wasn't able to finish the race every time.

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