Denise Betsema wins Ruddervoorde Superprestige

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Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) rode away from Inge van der Heijden (777) to win the opening round of the Superprestige Ruddervoorde. 

Betsema used her speed and skills on the fast and dry course, with riders and spectators enjoying the warm and sunny late October weather as Belgian cyclocross appeared to be a summer sport. 

Betsema finished 32 seconds ahead of van der Heijden, while Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished third at 51 seconds. 

Lucinda Brand and Fem van Empel were both absent. Brand is not there due to fracturing a metacarpal bone in her right hand last week, while Van Empel opted to save herself for Sunday's World Cup event in Maasmechelen. 

“In the last three races (Waterloo, Fayetteville and Tabor) I just missed the podium. Today makes up for it all and the win is a boost for my morale”, Betsema said post-race. 

“I really liked the course and I was able to save some energy at the end of the race too. Now I'm really looking forward to Namur and next week’s European championship.” 

Van der Heijden won the sprint to the first corner and the first ride through the long, deep sand section, as other riders backed up in the early traffic and the stop and start of the turns and ramps. Betsema was there, along with Alvarado but behind the gaps quickly opened with Cant and Worst quickly distance. 

Betsema took over on the front and kept up the pressure on lap two and three, making her rivals suffer. On lap four, Betsema again powered through the sand and opened a four-second gap on Alvarado.

777 coach Camiel van den Bergh shouted van der Heijden some simple advice: stay on Betsema’s wheel. It was easier said than done but had a clear benefit on the fast course.  

On lap five Betsema finally cracked van der Heijden and began to open a gap, second by second. She lapped some riders and pushed on, gaining more and more of a lead as the bell rang out for the final lap.

A puncture and bike change ended van der Heijden’s hopes. She got a bike change and chased all the way to the finish but knew Betsema was about to win in Ruddervoorde for a second consecutive year. 

Indeed Betsema had time to high five a section of the crowd and celebrated her solo victory with her arms in the air. Van der Heijden finished 32 seconds behind, with Alvarado a more distant third at 51 seconds. Betsema’s  777 teammate Annemarie Worst was fourth at 1:06 and Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Fristads) was fifth at 1:11. Zoe Backstedt (EF Education-Tibco) was tenth at 3:04. 

Betsema scored 15 points for her victory in Ruddervoorde and is the first leader of this winter’s Superprestige series. The next round of the Superprestige series is in Niel on Friday November 11.

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