Defending champion Sanne Cant (Belgium) extended her run as European cyclo-cross champion in Huijbergen, Netherlands on Saturday afternoon, riding away from her rivals mid-race on a technical section in the forest.
Compatriot Jolien Verschueren (Belgium) lacked the bike-handling ability to keep up with Cant but gave her all in the running sections to stay in the race. Together with Nikki Harris (Great-Britain) and Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic) there was a fierce battle for the places podium places. Cant went on to win alone, finishing ahead of Verschueren and Harris. The Briton has managed to get on the podium for the fourth year in a row.
“I’m well aware that my start of the season wasn’t great but that was the goal,” Cant told Telenet Play Sports after her victory. “I was aiming towards this race but I can confirm it was hard. Last year my title was a surprise victory but this year the expectations were higher. It’s a nice jersey and I didn’t want to wave goodbye to it.”
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Verschueren wasn’t expected to finish as runner-up in the European championships at the start of the season but after her win at the Koppenbergcross last weekend she was clearly aiming for the European title in Huijbergen.
“I’m very pleased with second place as I didn’t expect to get on the podium before the race. In hindsight you hope to be one step higher when you come so close. I just lost it in the technical sections and that’s sad. Hopefully I can keep making progression,” Verschueren said.
Early on in the race, Cant kept fast starter Helen Wyman (Great-Britain) in check. Behind her Harris took a tumble and lost some ground, while Verschueren had a bad start and was outside the top-ten.
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