Sophie de Boer strongest in Hoogstraten Superprestige

Sophie de Boer (Breepark.nl) captured a commanding win at the seventh and penultimate Superprestige round in Hoogstraten, Belgium.

De Boer was joined on the podium by an impressive Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team) and Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions).

“Today was the first mud cross of the season. I like these races the most and really wanted to win,” De Boer told Telenet Play Sports in the flash interview.

The final two Superprestige rounds are rewarded with double points and the two worst result are dropped for the general classification. World champion Sanne Cant (IKO Enertherm-Beobank) finished fourth in Hoogstraten - her worst result of the season - but remains in the lead with 99 points. Ellen Van Loy is second overall with 70 points and De Boer third with 57 points.

Cant is struggling with illness and was clearly worried after the race. “I really want to honour this jersey and I don’t feel like I’m doing that right now. I’ll have to cancel my obligations this week and make sure I’m competitive next week. It feels like I’m not the deserving champion but I’ve got to get over that,” she said.

De Boer featured in front straight from the start. She was right behind Ellen Van Loy, who managed the hole shot but faded shortly after. Van Loy was joined by Dutch champion Marianne Vos (WM3) and Elle Anderson (SRAM-Strava) who then faded back. By the end of the opening lap, Van Loy and Vos had a bonus of eight seconds on De Boer. Cant and Anderson were at 14 seconds. Katie Compton (KFC Racing) and Wyman were twenty seconds behind the two leaders. Maud Kaptheijns (Steylaerts-Verona) rode in twelfth place at 32 seconds but would fight her way back in the race.

De Boer bridged up with the two leaders and quickly took the initiative. Vos realised that she was in trouble in her last cyclo-cross race of the season. “Before the race I felt like I lacked power. I wanted to give it a go but in the opening lap I immediately blew up my engine. It was a tough course”, Vos told Telenet Play Sports.

She kept losing ground and finished ninth at 1:06.

De Boer ran away from Van Loy and Vos in a long mud section at the end of the second lap.

Van Loy benefited from her fast start and seemed certain of second place. “The move with Marianne was good and I was feeling comfortable”, Van Loy told Telenet Play Sports.

Behind Van Loy several riders were in the mix for third place at half a minute from the leader, with Cant, Compton, Wyman, Kaptheijns and a fading Vos all featuring. Wyman moved into third place during the penultimate lap, trailing Van Loy by ten seconds and the leader by 34 seconds. Cant, Compton and Kaptheijns were at a short distance.

In the final lap Wyman kept riding away from Cant and Compton, and also Kaptheijns passed the duo. De Boer flawlessly rode and ran to the victory in Hoogstraten and suddenly is back in contention for the Superprestige classification.

“I no longer focused on it because I didn’t race all rounds or wasn’t always good. We’ll see next week”, De Boer said.

Wyman found herself on the wheel of Van Loy who struggled to get into her pedals. “I really struggled in the last half lap. The final mud section of 150 metres didn’t suit me. Helen is probably the fastest runner in this field. The pedal didn’t help but I probably would’ve lost my second place to her anyway”, Van Loy said.

Wyman profited and walked away with a well-deserved second place. “It’s amazing to be back. Yesterday was so fast. For me, it’s was just too fast when you haven’t got the skills the other girls have had all season. To come here and see mud, I was really happy. I didn’t expect to see Ellen on the last lap. I really, really wanted to get at least third and I just ran as fast as I could. I could

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