Sanne Cant won the fifth round of the cyclo-cross World Cup in Zolder after distancing Katie Compton on the final lap. Cant and Compton were locked in a battle for much of the event but the American champion had no answer when Cant attacked towards the end of the last lap. Ellen van Loy held on to third place, despite a late charge from Thalita de Jong. Cant's victory is enough to give her back the lead in the World Cup standings, by a 17-point margin.
"I don’t know what happened, maybe I didn’t position myself well,£ Cant said of her bad start. "But on the first lap there was a lot of wind and some fell back so I could go to the front. I had a better feeling in the uphill than Katie so I pushed in the last climb and I’m happy that I could win."
The riders were greeted by dry conditions and a touch of sunshine on the start line of the fifth round of the World Cup in Zolder. A rare technical error resulted in a false start and a ten-minute delay to proceedings. While one of the starting lights switched to green, the one on the right of the course remained red. The commissaires were quick to jump into the path of the charging cyclists and return them to the start line.
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Once things did get under way, it was World Cup leader Eva Lechner tat got off to the best start with Telenet Fidea’s Van Loy in her wheel. Van Loy looked to be in strong form and moved in front of Lechner to push the pace and split the bunch. The main group fractured and came back together as the wind made it hard to gain a proper gap, allowing some to recover from a bad start.
Van Loy’s work finally paid off as she went clear Lechner, Cant and Compton. The group was reduced to three when Lechner was pitched over her handlebars on a downhill corner, effectively ending her shot at a podium. Van Loy began to struggle soon after and a dig from Compton was enough to see her distanced. She briefly regained contact but her two companions were too strong.
The final laps saw Cant and Compton repeatedly attack each other but neither could shake the other until Cant, sensing Compton struggling, had a go on the final climb. She pulled out enough of a gap to celebrate properly in front of the cheering crowd. Behind the leading pair, de Jong was putting up a strong chase for the final podium spot but Van Loy held onto third by just three seconds.
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