Day 5 of the 12th Annual 5-day SUP 11-City Tour
And then it is Sunday; the last day of SUP 11-City Tour has come! The final day, 28 kilometers stage with one more finish line to cross back in Leeuwarden.
Former SUP 11-City pro’s Janneke Smits and Ella Oesterholt left Dokkum first with a stack of camping equipment on their board & canoe. Finishing with all their SUP friends in Leeuwarden, completes their 250 km mission and training for the Yukon 1000 (paddling 1000 kilometers).
The Tour paddlers followed at 10:00 am with 60 new faces on the start line. SUP and Prone combined. Solid winds were blowing from the west and you know what that means: headwinds! The barren water ways after Dokkum to Burdaard do not give a lot of wind protection, so there was work cut out for everyone.
As if this day is not exciting enough, the last stage is also a time trial. With a prospect to the podium places, the rankings seemed pretty locked in already, but it’s never over till it’s over. Everything can happen on a 28 km head wind stage where you need to tap in to personal powers after 4 days of racing.
For the people like myself, watching Chris Parker’s SUPracers LIVE show this morning, it was impressive being able to see how Petronella and Joep were managing a flying start making the most of every opportunity to gain every second!
The only downwind part today was between Bartlehiem and Aldtsjerk. A welcome ‘3 km break’ before going back at it towards the ‘Elfstedenbruggetje’ and then finally Leeuwarden.
This shortest day stage fools many people. They think ‘let me paddle the shortest distance’ coming to find out, the day before was a down winder. ‘Should have been here yesterday’ is a surfer’s term, but it may also apply for the weekend stage with westerly winds. In reality, this is the SUP 11-City Tour giving back to you one more time. ‘Isn’t this what you came for’ she asks? ‘Did you not know what ‘The Ultimate Challenge’ meant?’ ‘Do you want to give up now?’ Unfortunately, with the brutal conditions, 5 people did have to give up. And even though it is never fun having to quit, it may motivate to train more, to come back next year and crush it!
Back to the podium we can finally confirm that Bruno Hasulyo and Petronella van Malsen are THE Champions of the SUP 11-City Tour 2020.
Bruno managed to win his 4th title this year and Petronella her first. Both exceptional results.
That brings us to the rankings to celebrate:
WOMEN’s Champ: Petronella van Malsen 24:43:03
Runner-up: Tanja Ecker 25:18:51
Third place: Wietske Kuipers 26:08:32
MEN’s Champ: Bruno Hasylo 21:13:38
Runner up: Joep van Bakel 21:29:03
Third place: Alain Luck 22:33:15
DIVAS CHAMP: Marion Behrens 27:01:40
MASTERS CHAMP: Guido Donze 22:56:43
GRAND MASTERS CHAMP: Peter Mulhausen 23:43:22
OVERALL RESULTS OF THE 5 DAY EVENT
The last riders of 5-day tour athletes today Corien, Margreet, Reggy and Halbe were escorted by a fleet of boats, loud music and lots of cheers to the last finish line in Leeuwarden after a solid 8 hours on the water. They can get their massage now and join the SUP 11 OHANA to celebrate an amazing edition of 2020!
Congratulations to everyone who completed the 200 + kilometer ‘the Monster Tour’ this year and to everyone who was part of the event in a day stage or team.
A massive congratulations and huge Mahalo to the Organization Marije Elgersma, Ritske Merkus, Kiki Merkies and an amazing, driven and talented group of volunteers. All sponsors and supporters thank you for all you do and have done for this event and for the paddlers.
Chris Parker, cheers mate you for tuning in with Friesland, Maui and other people in the world to bring the ‘SUP Racer Spark’ to us all the way from Australia. And to our worldwide online squat; thanks for following us through days and nights. Hopefully you enjoyed the show put on by the ‘kick ass’ SUP 11 Media team. There won’t be enough room on this press release to state how grateful and excited it is to have seen this edition go down.
See you next year in Friesland! Final dates will be announced (awaiting final dates ICF Championship in Hungary).
Bruno Hasulyo: ‘I am really really happy and satisfied with these 5 days. I am really stoked to have reached the level of Bart de Zwart with my 4th title. It is exceptional and it is a great honor. It was extra motivated to go hard and proof what I am doing works; also designing my own Xbionic board. Overall it was a fantastic week. I am extremely proud of the entire SUP 11-City Crew, the volunteers and organizers who could even make this event happen in 2020. To be here was amazing, to win a bonus!”
Joep: ‘Thanks to Team Fanatic Benelux and the SUP 11-City. I had a 200 km battle with 1 of the worlds best paddlers. I am satisfied and tired and on my way home again to be with my family and back to work. Aloha’
Petronella: ‘It was heavvvyyyyyy to paddle in these conditions especially today, but I will surely be back next year. Thanks everyone for the support, it was a beautiful week and I am super happy with this result. Finally!’
Tanja Ecker: ‘I am happy to finish 2nd place behind Petronella. She was really strong this year. I am also stoked for Wietske (3rd) and Soraya (4th) as well. And congrats to everyone who finished the whole tour! We had some crazy conditions on some stages but everybody can do it. The only thing I am not happy about is that the event is over now haha. This is still my favorite event in the world’.