Sanne Cant (Belgium) beat seven-time world champion Marianne Vos (Netherlands) in a last-lap thriller at the Bieles 2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Katerina Nash (Czech Republic) fought back from behind and captured the bronze medal. For 26-year-old Cant, it’s the first-ever world title after falling just short in the last two years.
When crossing the line, Cant burst into tears, realizing she will be wearing the rainbow jersey during the next year. “I can’t believe it. The jersey is mine for a whole year. I dreamed of it since I was six years old. It’s twenty years ago. I really can’t believe I beat Marianne Vos. She‘s the seven-time world champion. She’s really history. It’s an incredible day, the most beautiful day of my life”, Cant said in the post-race interview.
Despite a crash from Cant and a chain problem for Vos, the duo reached the short finishing straight together, with Cant leading the way. “When turning onto the road she was still on my wheel and I thought I would lose again. I was sprinting until the finish line but there wasn’t any orange coming up. I still couldn’t believe it when I crossed the finish line,” Cant told Sporza. “Beating Vos in a direct duel adds more glamour to this victory.”
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For Vos, finishing as runner-up was a major blow. On the podium, she had a hard time to hide her frustration at missing out on another title. “I’m a bit disappointed. You know anything can happen in such a race. It was a fierce duel. We matched each other today, and then it came down to the last lap”, Vos told Sporza. “She’s technically the best in the pack so it would be hard to beat her on this course.”
Vos took the initiative throughout the race, surging away on several occasions. Each time, Cant managed to come up with an answer. Nash and Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) also excelled on the difficult course in Bieles. As they hit the penultimate lap, there were still four leaders in the race with Vos, Cant, Brand and Nash. Vos accelerated again, and forced Brand and Nash to drop back.
Cant once again marked Vos’ wheel. That was until halfway the penultimate lap when Cant slipped away and Vos opened up a seemingly massive gap. Nash briefly caught up with the Belgian rider but, again, Cant fought back.
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