Aniek van Alphen has claimed a landmark victory in the Superprestige Boom cyclocross race, outsprinting Denise Betsema in a closely fought race after the two riders went clear in the final two laps.
After flatting mid-way through the rugged country park course, Betsema battled back up to the leaders, but Van Alphen proved too strong in the last dash for the line. Shirin van Anrooij completed an all-Netherlands podium, some 30 seconds back, in third.
The winner of the opening Superprestige round, Betsema narrowly missed out on a second victory in the series this season. But despite her defeat, nonetheless has now put valuable space between herself and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado at the top of the rankings.
If Betsema had mixed feelings about Saturday's race, Van Alphen was unequivocally delighted, the 23-year-old saying afterwards, “this is the biggest win of my career, this is something else.”
"I knew I had to go through the sandbox first in the final lap, then I had a chance. I'm not a sprinter, but Denise isn't really, either. Fortunately, I was able to finish it all off.”
Predicting the race outcome beforehand was hardly going to be straightforward on a day when two top names, Puck Pieterse or Fem van Empel were not present, while Lucinda Brand took part but abandoned after two laps.
On a day of freezing cold temperatures and dry weather, the six-lap race began with a dramatic charge away by Hungary’s Blanka Vas (SD Worx) and Shirin van Anrooij, while Betsema latched on shortly afterwards.
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Arguably the strongest in the race, Betsema powered clear with some three laps to go, only for Van Alphen to regain contact with a struggling Vas and Anrooij and then instantly sear ahead of Betsema into the race lead.
Yet despite the Dutchwoman leading into the last lap by some 10 seconds, Betsema then regained contact, and a thrilling two-way battle ensued where neither rider could gain more than a few metres, and the lead swapped on multiple occasions.
Coming into the short finishing straight, Betsema was marginally ahead when she opened up the sprint, but Van Alphen then dug deep to claim an unpredictable race with a well-deserved victory.
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
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