Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands) soloed to a dominant victory at the U23 women's race of the Cyclocross World Championships on her 21st birthday, upgrading from second in Fayetteville to take the rainbow jersey in front of her home fans in Hoogerheide.
The Dutchwoman beat Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) by 33 seconds at the end of the 45-minute race, while Czech rider Kristyna Zemanová rounded out the podium a mammoth 1:32 back.
"It was perfect," Van Anrooij said after the finish. "I can't describe how it felt. There was so much pressure, also from myself, to win here. I had a feeling like I could only lose, but everything went perfectly and I'm just super happy."
Van Anrooij was the clear favourite heading into the race, having won six elite-level 'crosses during the season including three UCI World Cups. Ranked third in the world this year, she would have been a medal candidate in Saturday's elite race but opted some time ago for the U23 race instead.
"Yesterday I also saw that Fem [van Empel] was super strong, but I felt really good today. At the moment when I had chosen the U23 race, I knew I really had to win this race. There was just so much extra pressure but I'm really happy I could deal with that today"
Van Anrooij didn't get off to the best start in Hoogerheide, however. Instead, it was Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg) leading the way early on.
However, Van Anrooij quickly got back to the front of proceedings and made a move off the front on the second lap of the race. Only Bäckstedt was able to stay in touch at that point, but the 18-year-old would be forced to drop away on the same lap.
The Briton hung in there, holding the gap within 10 seconds over the following laps, with nobody else getting close to the lead duo for much of the race, and Van Anrooij racing alone out front.
Bäckstedt would eventually have to let go and settle for second place on lap four. She would end up crossing the line for the final time just over half a minute back.
Behind her, there was a substantial gap to the best of the rest, with Kristyna Zemanová emerging as the strongest of the chasing pack, even if the remaining riders were already a long way back from the second lap onwards. She got the better of the likes of Schreiber and Amanda Fouquenet (France) to grab the bronze medal
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