Vos leads Dutch sweep at Zolder

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World champion Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) captured her second World Cup win of the season in Zolder, Belgium. The Dutch woman powered away from her compatriot Daphny van den Brand (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) on the penultimate lap. At the finish line on the former F1 racing circuit, Vos had half a minute on the World Cup leader. The last podium spot in the fifth World Cup round of the year was captured by another Dutch woman, Sanne van Paassen (Brainwash).

"Not much separated me from Daphny today. I waited for a good moment to attack, and then I went 100 percent for it. After crawling over the steep 'wall' I had a few meters, and I knew that I could turn that into some more on the following asphalted stretch," Vos said.

The second place from Van den Brand was more than enough to extend her overall lead in the World Cup rankings. Van den Brand now has a margin of 46 points over Van Paassen and ten more on Vos.

"It can still escape me. I think I'll have to finish top-five every time Vos wins a race," Van den Brand said.

The early part of the race in Zolder was led by British champion Helen Wyman (Kona). Halfway through the opening lap, Vos and Van den Brand powered away from Wyman with nobody being able to keep up with the Dutch tandem. A little later, Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) went over the handlebars in one of the steep descents, and so did her compatriot Wyman. "I couldn't breathe properly. My throat is ok, but my lungs are not," Wyman said, referring to her illness from last week. On Friday, she had abandoned the evening cross in Diegem in order to stay healthy for this World Cup round. Wyman kept losing positions throughout the race and she eventually finished 14th; Harris stood strong and finished eighth.

Just behind the Dutch duo, Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Boxx-Veldritacademie) and Pauline Ferrand Prevot formed the first chase group. After the first lap, they trailed the leaders by five seconds, and one lap later, by almost half a minute. The two were then joined by Sanne van Paassen who made her comeback in Zolder after illness. "Early on I was boxed in, and I was far back in the group. It was the plan to take it easy in the beginning. It was hectic out there, and you notice that some girls technically don't ride that well," Van Paassen said.

During the third lap Cant dropped away in the lead group while Van Paassen and 19-year-old Ferrand Prevot exchanged accelerations. "Sanne slid away, and I think her chain dropped. Pauline had technical sections where she went better than me and the other way around," Van Paassen said. Just when Cant bridged back up in the chase group, Van Paassen powered away. Van Paassen easily captured third place while Cant held off Ferrand Prevo for fourth. "On the climb, I lost a lot of time. I'm satisfied because the last two weeks weren't great," Ferrand Prevot said.

Hanka Kupfernagel won the sprint of the second chase group. The experienced German woman hasn't been racing much cyclo-cross this season, and she was very pleased with the outcome in Zolder. "Did I finish sixth? That's much more than expected. During the first lap, I thought about leaving the race if nobody would see me. Then I noticed many riders made mistakes, and I realized that I had to bide my time," Kupernagel said. The German woman outsprinted Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (CC Etupes) and Harris.

Caroline Mani (France) and Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea) completed the top-10. Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) didn't have a great ride. After a few crashes, she finished 16th in Zolder, just behind British riders Wyman and Gabriella Day (Renner-Raleigh).

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