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TEAM-PR: Navigators race report - Wanzele Kermes

Published: Mar. 9, 2005

Today (March 9, 2005) the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team could finally race again afterall the bad weather in the last few days. It was only a Belgian Kermesin Wanzele, 177km, 17 laps of 11km, but all the riders were very nervousto race.The field of 200 riders took off at an unbelievable speed of over 40.The Chocolate Jacques team had 16 riders at the start and decided to gofrom the gun.The result of this fast start after the first lap left 50 riders inthe first group (including Navigators' Mark Walters and Hilton Clarke)and 45sec down a second group of 60 riders that included Navigators' JeffLouder. Group one was getting clear of group 2 and after 70km; the gapto group 2 was 1min 30sec. At the 75km mark, five riders broke away fromthe first group; Peter Ronsse of Jartazi, Hilton Clarke of Navigators Insurance,Christof Trouve of Mr. Bookmaker, Kevin Van Impe of Chocolate Jacques anda rider from Lotto-Davitamon.The 5 leaders took an instant 1min lead as the bunch of 45 riders satup. As a result the 2 big groups joined together and at the 100km markerwe had 5 leaders and at 1min 30 sec a peloton of about 100 riders. TheChocolate Jacques team wasn't happy with this scenario and started chasingand 15km further everything was back together. The Navigators Insuranceriders kept on racing near the front in the small and windy roads. Therain started to come down and 13 riders broke away from the field. HiltonClarke made the break again and the bunch set up behind the 13 leaders.Chocolate Jacques had 6 riders in the break and they took control afterSteven Caethoven (last years winner of this race) attacked the break with30km to go. Soon, he got one minute to the rest of the break and 2 moreJacques rides followed Le Boucher of Mr.Bookmaker who attacked. The racescenario didn't change anymore and Caethoven won his first race of theseason. Second and third place were for his teammates Van Impe and Eeckhoutwith Le Boucher in forth. Hilton Clarke came in at 6th after Geert Omloop(2003 Belgian Champ) beat him in the sprint. Jeff Louder came in approximately18th and Mark Walters in 40th.   The next race for the team ison Wednesday the 16th of March for the UCI ranked 1.1 "Nokere-Koerse".1. Steven Caethoven (Chocolate Jacques)
2. Kevin Van Impe (Chocolate Jacques)
3. Le Boucher (Mr. Bookmaker)
6. Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance)Look for the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team in these upcoming events:www.navpro.com/schedule/


The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international insurance holding companywith insurance company operations, underwriting management companies andoperations at Lloyd's of London. Navigators primarily underwrites marineinsurance and  related lines of business, contractor's general liability,and professional  liability insurance. Headquartered in New York City,Navigators has offices in major insurance centers in the United Statesand the United Kingdom. Navigators, one of the largest marine insurersin the world, is committed to the principles of underwriting excellenceand to providing quality service to its clients. Navigators is rated 'A'(Excellent) by A.M. Best Company and 'A' (Strong) by Standard & Poors.The Navigators Group, Inc. is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NAVG.