Marianne Vos (VM3) showed she is ready for next weekend’s World Cyclo-cross Championships with a dominant victory at the final World Cup race in Hoogerheide.

Vos finished solo, ahead of compatriots Lucinda Brand (Sunweb) and young Annemarie Worst (Mijn Bad Liv-Giant). Sophie de Boer (Breepark) finished seventh but had already secured overall World Cup victory last week in Fiuggi, Italy.

On a fast, frozen course, Vos easily distanced her rival halfway round the penultimate lap. After her third consecutive World Cup victory she is now the clear favourite for the world title in Bieles, Luxembourg, next week.

“Well yeah, I already felt good the last weeks but it’s good to have such a race and final preparation”, Vos told Sporza in the post-race flash interview.

She did point out that her eighth world title wasn’t in the pocket yet. “It’s not yet so far. I have this World Cup victory but of course I’m already focused on next week as well.”

Numerous crashes

The win for Vos came after a tumultuous race in which numerous top riders crashed at the front of the race. The first rider to tumble was world champion Thalita de Jong (Lares-Waowdeals). She was leading a long line of riders during the opening lap and after a difficult 180-degree corner De Jong gapped Eva Lechner (Clif Pro Team) and the rest of the field. However a few moments later, the world champion slipped out and crashed hard on a seemingly easy descent. De Jong crashed on her left flank and hurt her knee. After much of the field passed her, she limped away with her bike. De Jong briefly tried to ride but quickly abandoned the race.

Up front Vos tested her rivals a first time during the second of six laps. She opened up a gap on Katerina Nash (Clif Pro Team), Sanne Cant (IKO Enertherm-Beobank) and Lucinda Brand. At the end of the second lap Nash trailed Vos, with Cant and Brand a few seconds further back. Pan-American champion Katherine Compton and Eva Lechner were trailing Vos by fifteen seconds. A few moments later, Vos switched bikes after discovering a problem with her handlebars. Other bike switches followed during the third lap and when the riders started the fourth lap there were a dozen of riders back in contention for the victory.

After the crash from De Jong in the opening lap, more riders crashed on the ice and sandy tracks. First Compton crashed and was slow to get going again; then Chiara Teocchi (Bianchi-Countervail), Lise-Marie Henzelin (Switzerland), Nikki Brammeier (Boels Dolmans), teammates Eva Lechner and Katerina Nash went down and became tangled. At the end of this tumultuous lap, there were six leaders remaining upfront, including Vos, Cant, Brand, Worst, De Boer and Laura Verdonschot (Marlux-Napoleon Games).

A few moments later, on reaching a technical section in the forest, Vos surged to the front for the second time. On an uphill section she opened up a gap on Brand and the rest of the group. When reaching the long stairs that included a painful 44 concrete steps, Vos was at the top when the rest had only arrived at the bottom.

By the end of the lap, Vos had a lead of 18 seconds on the five chasers. During the final lap Vos made no mistakes and easily held on to win alone.

“I attacked at one lap and a half from the end. That’s ten minutes of racing and that should work out. I felt good and straight away I had a gap, but anything can happen, slipping away, so it was better to have a bonus”, Vos said.

An all Dutch podium

On the podium Vos was flanked by two compatriots: Brand and Worst, giving the Dutch crowd plenty to cheer about.

“We’re in a good position. Too bad home rider Thalita de Jong literally crashed away”, Vos added.

Brand opened up a gap on the other chasers in the final lap while De Boer and Verdonschot were quickly dropped. Cant was unable to get back to Brand and shortly before the finish; she was also unable to keep up with Worst. It was both riders first ever World Cup podium.

Cant finished fourth, well ahead of Verdonschot. That gave her just enough points to overtake Katerina Nash and move into second place in the overall World Cup standings. Nash finished third in the sprint for sixth place that was won by British rider Evie Richards. Helen Wyman (Kona) made her comeback in the World Cup after a hard crash at the European championships, finishing twentieth.

Overall victory in the 2016-2017 Telenet UCI World Cup went to Sophie de Boer despite a poor performance today. She had already secured the victory in Fiuggi, Italy, last week.

Last year, De Boer won in Hoogerheide on a muddy course. This year she never took the initiative on the fast course, finishing just behind Richards.

Ellen Noble finished 39th in Hoogerheide, despite a good star but she was the best under 23 rider of the 2016-2017 World Cup.

The 2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World championships will be held in Bieles, Luxembourg next week, with Vos now the huge favourite for yet another world title.

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