Vos prevails in penultimate World Cup round

In a tumultuous race that included many crashes it was world champion Marianne Vos (Stichting Rabo Women) who prevailed and captured her third World Cup win in a row. Daphny van den Brand (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) remains overall World Cup leader thanks to her second place in Liévin, France, while US champion Katie Compton (Rabobank-Giant Off-road Team) rounded out the podium in third place.

The Dutch duo went the distance right from the first lap. A first chase group, including British champion Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team), Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Boxx-Veldritacademie), Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) and Compton, trailed the leaders by twenty seconds after the first lap on the fast course.

During the second lap the frozen top layer of the course in Liévin started to melt with several crashes as a result. During the second lap Compton went down and one lap later both Vos and Van den Brand crashed.

After the national championships last week – which Vos won for the second time in a row - the Dutch star hinted that the races were becoming somewhat boring but that wasn't the case on Sunday afternoon. "If you crash hard like I did on the third lap then it's not a boring race," Vos laughed. Vos was leading the race together with Van den Brand when she slid away on the muddy upper layer of the fast frozen course in Liévin.

World Cup leader Van den Brand crashed too but she did what she had to do to hold on to her overall lead by finishing as runner-up in chilly Liévin, high up in the north of France. "I took Daphny down with me but she was able to continue while I had mechanical issues. And I was in a lot of pain, too. I struggled to get back in the rhythm for half a lap, then it was ok," Vos said.

The expected clash between Vos and Compton didn't happen. Compton ran into all sorts of problems during the first laps but she eventually bounced back to finish third at more than a minute from winner Vos. "I can't blame it on the bike. I went fast but backwards not forwards. I went too fast in the first lap, slid out and then was in the wrong gear. Later I crashed again, I figured twice was better than once. It was really hard today but I'm happy to finish third considering the race I had," Compton said.

Behind the top three it was local rider Caroline Mani (France) who rode a terrific race. "Fourth is the first off the podium but for me it's a great result. At first I was afraid on this course and didn't dare to push. Then when Katie bridged up I realized she was the one to follow. I must've lacked lucidity and made a mistake," Mani said.

Mani won the sprint for fourth place from Wyman who surprised many including herself in Liévin. "I've been ill since the World Cup in Zolder. I rode the national championships because I figured I at least had to defend the title but I won. I feel so fresh now but I still have a cough. I'm quite happy with that although I finish fifth again," Wyman said.

Behind Wyman was Sophie de Boer (Telenet-Fidea) who claimed sixth place ahead of her teammate Nikki Harris. The British rider was pleased with her performance. "I crashed hard on my chest but still finished seventh. Maybe some rest made me good. This course is so hard. It's nice for the confidence," Harris said.

In front of these two riders it was actually Nash who seemed to have sixth place locked up but a last lap mechanical caused her to tumble down to fifteenth place on the line. "I had a decent start and then some issues," Nash said. She didn't exaggerate as she ran into all sorts of trouble with her bikes, including a ripped off rear derailleur and a snapped chain. "I probably had more issues than in a whole year. In the end I was riding a kick-bike. It was a tough day. I'll have to do better next week," Nash said.

Right behind Nash it was young Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) who finished sixteenth. The US women's U23 champion and elite silver medalist was content with her race. "I'm placing consistently in the top-20 at the World Cup. Last year I would've been top-30 here. It's a very tough course," Antonneau said.