Cant wins Flandriencross

Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) won the Kwadro Flandriencross on Sunday. After taking her second World Cup win of the season on Saturday in Milton Keynes, Cant went on to win the third Bpost Bank Trophy round in Hamme, Belgium, already her twelfth win of the season.

"Winning is never easy. It just keeps going on but I’m still very happy with it," Cant told Sportwereld.be. The 24-year-old European and Belgian champion won on the fast course ahead of her compatriot Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea) and British champion Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team).

Ellen Van Loy had a great start and created a small gap early on. Wyman and De Boer tried to close the gap but had to let her go. Cant didn’t waste too much time and closed the gap on her own.

"I started well but in the first lap some riders managed to overtake me. Apparently my pace wasn’t fast enough so I remained on their wheels. Then I got away with Ellen Van Loy," Cant said.

Wyman and De Boer were unable to keep up with the Belgian duo. Wyman lost a lot of ground but managed to fight her way back to third place. “I was riding strong but I punctured on the second lap. So I had to change bikes and I think I went back to seventh or eighth. To come back to three was really good. I was feeling strong and I was riding fast,” Wyman told Sportwereld.be.

In front, Van Loy was setting the pace with Cant remaining comfortably on her wheel for a couple of laps. Afterwards Cant explained that she didn’t appreciate Van Loy’s racing style. “I wanted to exchange pulls but Ellen accelerated every time so I adapted my tactics too and sat on her wheel too. There was no other way. During the penultimate lap I attacked and managed to ride away metre per metre,” Cant said.

Van Loy didn’t seem to mind too much that Cant sat on her wheel. She enjoyed her time in the lead. In the final laps she had to let go of Cant, who easily grabbed the victory. “It was a fast race but that’s something I like. I was able to ride near the front for a long time, about three to four laps in the lead. Thanks to my efforts, the gap to third grew bigger. In the end I had to let go of Sanne. Sanne is outstanding these days so I’m pleased I was able to confirm my form with second place,” Van Loy said.

In the battle for third place, Wyman had to deal with Czech rider Pavla Havlikova (Young Telenet-Fidea). "I knew if I got the kick into the sprint then maybe I could win. I could take third place," Wyman said.

Sophie de Boer (Kalas-NNOF) led the Bpost Bank Trophy cyclo-cross series going into this third BPo-round. After struggling with the aftermath of a midweek crash in Milton Keynes the Dutch rider needed to limit her losses in Hamme. She managed to keep Wyman in sight but in the final lap De Boer crashed and lost some time, finishing fifth, ahead of Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea).

Two US-riders cracked the top-10 in Hamme – Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale) was eighth, Elle Anderson (Kalas-NNOF) tenth. Pan-American and US-champion Katie Compton (Trek Factory Racing) didn’t race in Hamme.

De Boer managed to hold on to the overall lead. Van Loy moves into second place at 1:11 from the leader. Wyman is now third at 2:04. Cant lost a lot of time in Ronse but now moves up to fourth place at 3:36 from De Boer.

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