Sophie De Boer suffered immensely on the final lap of World Cup opening round at CrossVegas, but the Dutch rider found the strength in the last half of the grass course to take the win in a three-up sprint ahead of reigning champion and three-time winner Katerina Nash and Katie Compton.
"On the last half lap they dropped me actually," De Boer said in the finishing straight. "I never thought I could come back, but then in the last half lap they were waiting, so I thought, 'Oh, I'm just going to go for it.' My teammate, he was screaming that I should be first at the stairs, so I just gave it a go, and yeah, we had the sprint but I never thought I could win because they had dropped me already."
De Boer credited the rivalry between Nash and Compton for leaving the door open for her win.
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"Yeah, I think so," sehe said. "In the last lap we were all looking at each other. When Katie attacked really strong I dropped, but they were looking at each other so I thought I'd take my chance."
Eva Lechner led the group into the first set of barriers in the slow going on the mostly grass course. The favourites bunched near the front throughout the first lap as the field began to string out behind on the thick turf.
Lechner opened a small gap after the first time up the off-camber sand pit, but the Italian speedster didn’t press the advantage as the leaders regrouped on the front. Catherine Pendrel took the lead on the second lap, continuing the pressure her teammate Lechner applied on lap 1.
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