A look back at the KNSB cup: Tom Hofker wins the 5th leg of the series

The fifth KNSB Cup of the season was held on February 2nd in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The skaters competed on 1500m and 3000m relay.

Par Florence Gauthier

Photo: Bert van Lobenstein

There are usually skaters from other countries competing in these events, but it was not the case last weekend as the ninety-eight skaters on the ice were all from the Netherlands. They were divided into four categories, from A to D. Skaters in they A category participated in two 1500m, while those in the other groups raced only one.

In division A, the big winner of the day was Tom Hofker with his first place finish in both A finals. His best time was 2:19.260 in the first one. Finishing second overall was Teun Boer, who finished behind Tom Hofker both times. Hessel van Berkum joined the two skaters on the overall podium as he finished third twice. Bram Steenaart, who was returning from the World Junior Championships in Montreal, finished sixth. The best woman was national team member Avalon Aardoom, who finished the day with a twelfth place overall following a tenth and twelfth place in the finals. Emma van Zuijlen was the second highest ranked woman at the end of the competition. She ended the day in twentieth place following a nineteenth and a twentieth place in the finals.

In Division B, Justus Klaster won the final with a time of 2:29.533. Michelle Velzeboer was second, 0.756 seconds behind Klaster. Third place went to Dedmer Bouma. Women find themselves in a better position in Division B because there is a smaller gap in personal best times between the men and women who are skating in this group..

In the relay, the team of Zeno de Boer, Esther Gijsbers, Daan Kos and Tom Hofker finished with the best time, followed by Braam Steenaart, Michelle Velzeboer, Brian Boer and Man Boskamp’s team. The team with the third time was composed of of Emma van Zuijlen, Henk van Atten, Tijn Leijgraaff and Zoë Deltrap.

See the athletes at the KNSB Cup 6 on February 16, 2019 in Utrecht.

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