Leonie Bentveld sealed the Netherlands with another gold medal in the women’s under-23 race at the Cyclo-cross World Championships, following an exciting final lap battle with teenager Viktória Chladonová (Slovakia).
Bentveld used her technical ability on the steep descents in Hulst to gain a last-lap lead and then pull out a winning advantage.
Meanwhile, Célia Gery (France) had to settle for bronze after a crash and a bike change dropped her out of the front group.
It was an emotional moment for European champion Bentveld, who turned her bronze medal from the last two World Championships into a gold one, in front of her home crowd in Hulst.
Chladonová finished with a bronze medal in the junior ranks at the Cyclo-cross World Championships at Tabor two years earlier. The talented youngster made several mistakes on the final lap to finish 11 seconds behind, while Gerry took bronze 57 seconds behind the winner.
It was the fourth gold medal of the championships for the home nation, the Netherlands, following wins for the mixed relay, elite women, and junior men.
"It's crazy, it's a little bit unbelievable," said Bentveld after the race."It was a really hard race, you had to keep on pushing, and it was mentally quite hard to stay focussed.
"I was constantly seeing [Chladonová], but not really coming closer. Two laps before the end, I saw that I was a little bit faster on the downhill. That was the only opportunity on the last lap.
"I thought 'all or nothing' and we'll see how it ends. She (Chladonová) had a lot of power, but I was a little bit better technically and could ride the good lines. There, you could make a good gap by carrying speed into the next section.
"It was either going to end like Puck Pieterse, or it would work out. The crowd was unbelievable, on the last lap, I couldn't hear any of my coaches it was so loud. It was unbelievable."
How it unfolded
Chladonová and Bentveld out front during the under-23 women's race (Image credit: Getty Images)
The fortress city of Hulst, on the Dutch-Belgium border, provided a spectacular backdrop with the 3.3km course containing 150 metres of elevation gain, including steep climbs and descents to test riders' technical abilities.
The previous day's action saw how deceptively treacherous the course was, with heavy crashes disrupting the hopes of several elite women contenders.
Sunday morning rain in Hulst resulted in the descents becoming even more slippery, and a crash was also significant in the earlier junior boys' event.
There was no defending champion in the under-23 women's ranks as two-time champion Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) decided to ride the previous day's elite women's race, finishing seventh.
With the women under-23 riders usually riding alongside the elite riders, the European and World Championships are the only two occasions each year they go head-to-head.
Home favourite Bentveld got off to the perfect start but was closely followed by her rivals for the title. After receiving some pre-race advice from team leader Thibau Nys, Fleur Moors (Belgium) decided to take the lead into the steep run-up on the opening lap, ahead of the technical banked section.
The pre-race favourites started to pull clear within the opening half a lap as Moors was joined by Bentveld and Célia Gery (France). After a slow start from the grid, Chladonová came through strongly, and a mistake from Moors allowed the Visma-Lease a Bike rider to join the front trio by the end of the first lap.
Not content with a tactical battle, Chladonová went straight to the front and started to drive the pace in the leading group.
The four-time Slovakia national cyclo-cross champion showed her form with a sixth-place finish at the concluding World Cup round at Hoogerheide last weekend, and was the strongest rider on the flat section.
Chladonová looked imposing as the 19-year-old forced Gery into a mistake and pulled out a slender margin, which Bentveld tried to close. Behind the leading quartet, American youngster Lidia Cusack led the chase behind, while Vida Lopez De San Roman was a place further back.
Ending the second lap, Chladonová had a four-second gap over Bentveld, while Moors and Gery were visibly suffering a handful of seconds further back.
Belgian rider Moors was beginning to pay for her earlier fast pace and dropped back from the leading group as the race was on at the front. After having a gel during the second lap, Gerry had recovered and pulled back to Bentveld just a handful of seconds behind the leader.
However, just as the pair reached the lone leader, Gerry slid out on a slippery turn, losing vital ground on her rivals and causing the hoods on her bars to bend in.
Bentveld ascends a muddy hill on the course in Hulst (Image credit: Getty Images)
Entering the penultimate lap, Chladonová had a slender lead of four seconds over Bentveld, while Gerry had changed bikes and fell to 22 seconds behind.
Belgian rider Moors had sensed a podium battle with Gery before crashing hard on the transition off a pontoon and onto a banking. A slow descent for leader Chladonová allowed Bentveld back to her wheel, with the Dutch competitor immediately taking the front.
Not deterred by her competitor, Chladonová used the flat power section to regain the front. However, Bentveld was using some aggressive lines and forced her way forward, resulting in her opponent having to break.
Taking the last-lap bell, the leading pair remained locked together, as Gerry had found her momentum again, 35 seconds behind, and Moors a further 15 seconds back.
Teenager Chladonová looked composed in the last-lap battle and used her continuous pace to put Bentveld under sustained pressure, resulting in the Dutch youngster making a mistake off on the tight corner off the pontoon.
However, Bentveld had a trump card and used her technical skills off the steep bank to regain the lead and used her momentum to pull out an advantage.
Once again, Bentveld used another slippery bank to excite her home crowd and further gap her opponent Chladonová. The Slovakian tried to respond, but again made a mistake in a rutted turn and had to dismount her bike to get safely around.
The advantage was enough for Bentveld to take gold and celebrate 11 seconds ahead of Chladonová. In the battle for bronze Gery fended off the charge by Moors. America placed three riders inside the top six through De San Roman (4th), Alyssa Sarkisov (5th) and Cusack (6th).
Bentveld with Gery and Chladonová on the final podium (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ben raced as an amateur cyclist in the UK from a young age into the senior ranks on the road, track and in cyclocross. He has an NQJ qualification in journalism, and a sports journalism degree, and has spent over 10 years as a news and sports journalist. Ben has been covering cyclocross for media outlets, including Cyclingnews, since 2021 and has been on the ground reporting at World Championships in Zolder, Belvaux, Valkenberg, Dubendorf, and Hoogerheide. Away from cycling as a freelance sports journalist, Ben regularly reports on a range of sports including football, rugby, and snooker amongst others. However, he is happiest whilst reporting on-site at cyclocross races in Belgium and the Netherlands.
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