Van Anrooij wins second race of year at Exact Cross in Mol
Brand secures second while Worst takes third at Zilvermeercross
Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Trek Lions) rode solo under the lights and won the Exact Cross round in Mol Friday. Teammate Lucinda Brand surged past Annemarie Worst (777) at the mid-point of the race and the duo secured the final spots on the Zilvermeercross podium, Brand in second and Worst in third.
Zoe Backstedt (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) took fourth place, more than a minute behind Van Anrooij, riding 10 seconds faster than Aniek van Alphen (777), who was fifth.
The top five women in the World Cup standings were absent from the Friday night ride in the rain, including the leading duo of 20-year-olds Fem van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and second-placed Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Van Anrooij earned her first elite World Cup victory in Beekse Bergen against the two rivals and is now sixth in the World Cup standings.
She still had to negotiate a wet course, deep sand and former World Champion Brand to secure her second victory of the season.
“My start wasn't great, but I wanted to get to the sand first and use that stretch. I made a mistake once and the rest didn't get any closer. Then I knew: if I don't make any more mistakes, then I will make it," she told Gazet van Antwerpen.
Van Anrooij took control of the race from the start, joined on the first laps by Worst, with a gap to Backstedt and Brand.
It was on the second lap that Brand broke away from the young Briton and joined Worst.
With one lap to go, Brand chased alone in second place, 23 seconds behind the leader and Worst then tried to close a gap that began to widen from six seconds. The quartet held positions to the finish.
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Tadej Pogačar can dominate the Giro d’Italia but nobody can control its chaos – Analysis
Slovenian the overwhelming favourite but the Corsa Rosa always produces unexpected drama -
Stages Cycling ceases operations and lays off entire staff, report suggests
Supplier orders cancelled, products out of stock at esteemed power meter and indoor cycling brand -
'This course was almost perfect' - Late call-up for Cameron Scott leads to Tour de Romandie prologue podium
Australian comes second on opening day of racing at his first European WorldTour stage race -
Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates top UCI rankings, Astana losing fight against relegation
Kopecky, SD Worx-Protime top women's rankings