Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) won the Azencross in Loenhout, Belgium, the sixth round of the BPost Bank Trophy cyclo-cross series, on Tuesday afternoon.
Cant beat Pavla Havlikova (MRM-Avalon) and Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea) in the sprint. Cant extended her lead in the time-based BPo-series to 1:46 over Jolien Verschueren (Young Telenet-Fidea) who finished fourth just behind the top-3 in Loenhout. “I wanted to say goodbye to the Belgian tricolore jersey in style. From Baal [New Year’s Day] on I have to ride in the European jersey,” Cant said in the post-race flash interview on Sporza.
Cant, Havlikova and Van Loy were the strongest riders on a fast course which was in stark contrast to last year’s mud-fest. After the first of six laps there were still 10 riders in the front group. However, during the second lap Van Loy set a pace that only Cant was able to follow. At the intermediate sprint Cant narrowly beat Van Loy and Havlikova for the 15 bonus seconds.
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Halfway through the second lap four riders gapped the rest of the field with the group containing Cant, Van Loy and Havlikova and Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team). That was still too crowded for Cant who accelerated away. Behind her Wyman crashed hard on slippery cobbles when turning into the home straight. She needed some time to recover but went on to finish eighth at 48 seconds. Compatriot Hannah Payton crashed on the rollers and abandoned. Also a sick Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) abandoned the race after the second lap.
Havlikova managed to close the small gap on Cant with Van Loy on her wheel. The first chasers were Loes Sels (Young Telenet-Fidea) and further back slow starter Jolien Verschueren with Maud Kaptheijns (AA Drink). Sophie de Boer (Kalas-NNOF) was fading back to half a minute from the leaders with Wyman, Alice Maria Arzuffi (Selle Italia-Guerciotti), Lucinda Brand (Rabobank-Liv), Femke van den Drieesche (Kleuren op Maat) and fast starters Nikola Nosková (AA Drink) and Emma White (USA). Nadja Heigl (Focus-SU Bikestore.cc) showed off her technical skills, and was the only rider who was bunny-hopping the barriers.
The pace in front wasn’t too high and Sels was slowly coming closer on the lead group. Cant was riding a tactical race, forcing Van Loy and Havlikova to the front.
“Sometimes I should have more guts and stay in the wheels a bit longer. The chasers were teammates but I’m riding for my podium spot too. It was good to ride together and I took profit from that,” Van Loy told Sporza.
Cant took back the initiative during the penultimate lap, putting Van Loy in trouble in the technical passage but the Belgian veteran managed to come back. In the background White crashed on the rollers but the American rider managed to continue her race. When hitting the final lap the three leaders had a bonus of 10 seconds on Sels and Verschueren. Brand and Kaptheijns were battling for sixth place. The positions in front often changed with Cant and Van Loy making small mistakes. The three were awaiting the sprint in which Havlikova and Van Loy started first.
Cant timed her sprint to perfection though Havlikova gave her the space to pass. Cant won ahead of Havlikova and Van Loy. Verschueren came close, finishing at five seconds. Sels was fifth at 21 seconds. Brand won a tight sprint for sixth place from Kaptheijns. Wyman and Arzuffi were the next finishers. Amanda Miller came back strong to crack the top-ten at 1:11.
Cant strengthens her lead in the Bpost Bank Trophy. Verschueren trails her by 1:46. Wyman moves into third at 3:38 with Harris losing a lot of ground, now placing sixth at 6:40.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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