Van Paassen gets the win in Plzen

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Three days before her 22nd birthday, Dutch youngster Sanne van Paassen (Brainwash) worked her way to an impressive solo victory during the second round of the UCI Patrick Cyclo-cross World Cup in Plzen, Czech Republic.

Van Paassen shook off compatriot Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) just before the final lap and she stormed to her possibly her best birthday present ever. The American-based Czech Katerina Nash (Luna) finished third on home soil ahead of her compatriot Pavla Havlikova (APB) and British champion Helen Wyman (Kona).

Next to the career first victory in the World Cup, the 21-year-old van Paassen also moves into the World Cup lead tied with Dutch champion Van den Brand. Former World Cup leader Katie Compton (Planetbike) opted not to race in Plzen and as a result, the US national champion dropped back to fifth overall.

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Right from the start, Van Paassen and Van den Brand moved to the front followed closely by Belgian champion Sanne Cant, Wyman and German champion Hanka Kupfernagel. A little later, Kupfernagel pulled out after getting an ill-timed flat tire.

Local stars Nash, Havlikova and Jana Kyptova didn't have the best start, and Van den Brand and Van Paassen didn't wait for them. After one lap, the two Dutch women had a 10-second lead over Nash, Havlikova, Kyptova, Wyman, Cant, Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Vienne Futuroscope) and Dutch rider Arenda Grimberg.

The lead duo shared the work to build up a more comfortable lead, and only Nash was able to provide close competition. Nash was riding as fast as the leaders - if not faster - but she also slipped a couple of times and that kept her from eventually joining the leaders. Havlikova and Wyman got dropped by Nash but weren't too far off the front after two laps.

In front, the two Dutch women kept the pace high, and every lap they were able to put some more seconds on to their lead. At the halfway point, Nash trailed them by 15 seconds. When entering the final laps, Nash was 20 seconds down on the leaders, making it clear that the two would be battling for the win in Plzen.

The speed went up during the penultimate lap, but Van Paassen clearly had the most left in her tank when she blasted away from Van den Brand on the slightly uphill street at the finish line. Van Paassen clocked the fastest lap of the race during that final lap and eventually reached the finish line 16 seconds ahead of her compatriot.

Nash and Havlikova rode on their own towards third and fourth place at about a minute from Van Paassen. Wyman repeated her fifth place from the first World Cup round, this time ahead of Ferrier-Bruneau and Cant.

With her World Cup victory in Plzen, Sanne van Paassen gave herself a perfect birthday present - she turns 22 on October 27. In addition, she was also handed the jersey of World Cup leader. Just like Van den Brand, she has earned 100 points after two World Cup rounds, but Van Paassen was awarded the jersey because she has won an event. In the standings, Nash trails by only 10 points in third position. Wyman moved up to fourth place overall due to Compton's absence; Compton dropped back to fifth place 40 points behind the leaders.

The third round of the UCI Patrick Cyclo-cross World Cup will be contested in the North Sea dunes of Koksijde in Belgium on November 27, 2010.