Mykhaylo Khalilov military World Champion road cycling 2006

Wednesday July 26 was the day of the military championship road cycling. Under tropical conditions the race started in Chaam. This 20^th world championship was held during the famous race of the ‘Acht van Chaam’.  86 cyclists from 13 countries rode 120 kilometres in 30 rounds of 4 kilometres. The Ukrainian Mykhaylo Khalilov won the sprint of a leading group of five cyclists.
Who was the winner had to be decided by a photo finish because the difference between Klalilov and the German Robert Bengsch was impossible to see with the naked eye.  Bengsch was the most aggressive runner in the field. He made the first escape in the second round en was 20 seconds ahead of the bunch.  After 28 kilometres a head group formed existing of the Belgian Kuypers, the German Fulst and the final winner Khalilov.
After 20 kilometres, the head group fell back into the bunch. Again, a new leading group was formed by the Polish Modzelewski, the Ukrainian Klymenko and again Bengsch. But this escape was not successful either.
Than after 72 kilometres a group of 5 cyclists knowing; the Slovakian Broniš and again Khalilov, Modelevski, Bengsch and Klymenko were leading. The Russian Vasilliev joined the leaders after 100 kilometres.  The maximum advance of the leading group was 50 seconds. In the round before the last round, the leaders were taken again by the fears hunting bunch.
At 12 kilometres before the finish line the bunch fell back even more and was 35 second behind of the leading group. In the last round, Bengsch escaped again. The French Gonnet joined 1 kilometre before the finish.
Five cyclists sprinted towards the finish line. Khalilov was the fastest. He finished in 2 hrs. 45 minutes and 53 seconds. The sprint of the bunch was won by the German Lampater.
Michael Boogerd handed the jersey over to Khalilov. The third place medal was given to Modzelewski by Mayor Harrie Nuijten of the community Alphen-Chaam. Top athlete - Sergeant Yuri van Gelder (world champion gymnastics on the rings) gave the silver medal to Bengsch. Luitenant-general Minze Beuving, commander of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee gave the gold medal to Khalilov.

Cynthia den Blanken (BIMS)

        Janis Brajkovic military world champion time trial in Chaam

Monday July 24 - Today the military time trial started at 18.00 hrs.  Brajkovic from Slovenia finished first at 31:31,17 min. followed by Robert Bengsch from Germany with a time of 31:51,48 min. Number three, Oleksander Klymenko from Russia finished at 32:22,17 minutes.
After the first round, Bengsch clocked the fastest interval time. He had a two seconds advantage on Brajkovic than. De Slovenian however, set things right in the second round and finally finished 20 seconds ahead of the German.
For the Netherlands sergeants Martijn Alberts and Aart Lobregt appeared at the start. Only 6 kilometres before the finish line, Alberts got a flat tire. This took him at least one minute of his time and a number twelve position. Also Bartko did not have any luck with his tires; in two rounds he had two flat tires which costed him a place at the platform. Despite his age (44 years) Aart Lobregt had a good race, he finished twenty first.
Mayor Nuijten spoke several words of appreciation to the organisation of the Netherlands CISM delegation. "We have really enjoyed the cooperation with the ministry of Defence.
I wish to continue our cooperation in the field of sports in the near future in our community". Lieutenant-colonel Hans Goedings agreed: "For us it is the first time that we cooperated with a civilian association in the organisation in a military tournament. With this cooperation we tried to bring the Ministry of Defence closer to the public. We surely succeeded in that area. Over 2000 people cheered for the military cyclists. That means more bystanders than we have ever had at military tournaments".

Opening Military World Championship Cycling  

The opening ceremony for the military world championship road cycling was held on Sunday July 23.  The Netherlands is hosting the 20^th Conseil International du Sport Militaire championship at the Royal Military Academy in Breda from July 22 to July 28.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the USA all have men’s teams taking part in the tournament. They have all taken residence at the wonderful grounds of the Royal Military Academy.

The gates of the Royal Military Academy opened at 12.30 hrs for public. Around 200 residents of Breda and 165 invitees came to watch the ceremony. The mayor of Breda and the mayor of Alphen-Chaam and their wives were guests of the ceremony.
The flag of the Netherlands and the CISM flags were hoisted under the watchful eyes of lieutenant-general Sonneveld, lieutenant-general Beuving and general-major van Osch (governor of the Royal Militairy Academy).
The official representative of the Conseil International de Sport Militaire, Colonel Jan Petrovic from Slovakia welcomed the generals, the mayors, the chiefs of missions, the athletes and the public. “It is an honour to be invited for the 20^th military world championship cycling. I would like to thank lieutenant- colonel Hans Goedings that athletes are given the opportunity to compete and meet.
Cycling is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is a sport used for relaxing as well as competition. I would also like to thank lieutenant-colonel Jaco Oussoren for the effort he has put into this world championship”, so the colonel spoke.
He ended his speech with the words: “I would like to say to the athletes do your utmost to win this competition, but always by the basic rule of CISM “Friendshp through sports”.
Lieutenant-general Sonneveld opened the ceremony with words of welcome. The association “Acht van Chaam” received special words of welcome. This association is the civilian partner in the organisation of this world championship. In his speech he referred to the Netherlands as a country where cycling is very common and very popular. He also mentioned the results of the Dutch cyclist in the Tour de France so far. Furthermore he said: “Another classic road race is the ‘Acht van Chaam’ next Wednesday. This so called ‘Dutch criterium’ has always been organised the first Wednesday after the finish of the Tour de France.
The Netherlands Delegation plays a very active role as it should be as founder nation of the International Military Sports Board called CISM. Not only because of the cycling culture in our country but also due to the fact that the former president on CISM sport commission cycling is a Dutchman (Lcol Jaco Ousoren), a plan was made to establish a civil military cooperation between the world military championship and the ‘Acht van Chaam’. CISM wants to create more visibility for their World Military Championships. This is one of the reasons that we bring this upcoming event to the public and invite them to join the race and meet our organisation.
Cycling is a sport which demands a lot of concentration and fighting spirit. But this must be achieved in a sportive way, without the use of doping. Because the use of doping does not suit a military lifestyle, let alone the CISM lifestyle. That is why all results should be achieved through the CISM motto “Friendship through sports”.The Dutch athlete WMR1 Martijn Alberts took the pledge of good sportsmanship on behalf of all the athletes.The opening ceremony ended with a spectacular show with the theme ‘cycling’.
This show included a stunt biker Rick Koekoek whom used some military vehicles in his performance.  Singer/ guitarist Stefan entertained all guest. The show ended with a dance group whom performed at songs like the famous Queen Song ‘I want to ride my bicycle’. After their show the dancers guided the guests to the courtyard where there was an informal gathering. Food and drinks were served from several international marked places which represented the various present countries.
Cynthia den Blanken (BIMS)



Link to Chaam's Championship websites :
www.cdc.nl/bims
www.mwcc.web-log.nl
http://mwcc2006.fotopic.net