Annemarie Worst (Netherlands). (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Annemarie Worst (Steylaerts-77.be) won the first round of the 2018 Superprestige Trophy in Gieten on Sunday. Marianne Vos (Waowdeals Pro Cycling) took second, 33 seconds behind, while Alice Maria Arzuffi (Steylaerts-77.be) rounded out the podium, 34 seconds behind her teammate.
Worst and Vos were locked in battle for the first half of the race, before Worst went on the attack in the sand section of lap four, a part of the lap where Vos had previously looked stronger. The next lap she was gone for good, again attacking in the sand.
By the next lap, Worst was almost 30 seconds up on her chasers, her first ever Superprestige victory secured. Vos and Arzuffi fought it out in the final laps, with the Dutchwoman eventually securing second place in the closing moments of the race.
The first race of the 2018 Superprestige Trophy was held on the sandy track of Gieten in the Netherlands, with seven laps of the 4.9km course through the forest and around the stunning lake. Previous winners at the start included Vos (2004, 2005, 2006, 2011), Sanne Cant (2014, 2015, 2016) and Maud Kaptheijns (2017).
Vos, Maud Kaptheijns (Crelan-Charles) and Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions) lead the race out at the start, while world champion Sanne Cant (Iko-Beobank) ran into trouble early on, slipping to around 20th position.
Vos and Kaptheijns pulled away somewhat in the sand section midway through the lap, while Worst was also separated from the chasing peloton. Heading into the second lap, Vos was out front on her own, five seconds ahead of the two chasers, while the peloton was 15 seconds back.
Lap two saw Worst go on the offensive, catching Vos, while Arzuffi made it up to Kaptheijns, meaning it was two versus two at the front of the race. A lap later Arzuffi left Kaptheijns, who was joined by Loes Sels (Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice), to go in search of the leaders.
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The fourth lap saw Worst make her move, leaving Vos behind on a sand section, riding on as her rival was forced to run. Vos made it back, but the next lap Worst once again got away in the sand. Heading into the penultimate lap, she had an advantage of 29 seconds over Vos, Arzuffi and Sels, who would fight for the remaining podium spots.
By the final lap, Arzuffi had distanced her companions, before Vos got a second wind, chasing across the gap. The seven-time cyclo-cross world champion got a gap in the end, edging out the Italian by a solitary second while Sels took fourth another second back.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
