In her first race of 2023, Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Trek Lions) returned to the top step of the podium, storming to a solo victory in the fifth round of the X2O Trofee in Koksijde.
Van Anrooij fought off a race-long chase from another Dutch 20-year-old, Jumbo-Visma's Fem van Empel. The European champion was targeting her 12th win of the season but was forced to settle for second place, 14 seconds down after never quite getting in touch with her rival.
Former world champion Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) rounded out the podium some way back at 1:09 down on her teammate after she and the rest of the chasers consistently lost time on the two young leaders.
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Further back, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took fourth place at 1:52, while world champion Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) took fifth at 2:18 in her first 'cross since November.
"Last year during the World Cup I really made a go to try and win my first ever World Cup – at least that's what I was thinking," Van Anrooij said after the race. "It's changed from not being a World Cup anymore, but it's such a special race and it's super cool to win this one.
"I finally had a good start for once, I think for one of the few times this season. I wanted to ride my own lines through the sand and I did that from the first strip. After that, it was just about not making any mistakes.
"There were a lot of backmarkers who didn't really move to the side. That caused me to make some mistakes and I felt [Van Empel] getting closer. The only times I looked back I saw that she wasn't quite getting there. I got away slightly on the long climb, and I also put emphasis on the sand strips before recovering in between. That worked well."
Van Anrooij had hit the front of the race in the very first of five laps in the Belgian coastal town, but never quite managed to fully shake off Van Empel, despite dispatching the rest of her rivals with seeming ease.
The start of the race was marred by a mass crash in the peloton as riders came into contact with the barriers, though the main favourites escaped the carnage to push on at the front.
Van Anrooij, who finished 2022 in top form with three wins in a week, was joined in the lead by Van Empel and Brand as well as Alvarado and Inge van der Heijden (777), though she would make a solo push for the lead well before the riders passed the line to start lap two.
She already enjoyed a lead of 10 seconds at that point, with the quartet coming together in the chase before Van Empel set off in solo pursuit.
On the third lap, Van Empel came close to making the catch and setting up a grand battle for victory, but a small mistake set her back after she was forced to put a foot down. Van Anrooij made no errors, however, instead continuing on alone on the road to another win.
She held a consistent gap over Van Empel as the rest only ceded more time with each lap – 15 seconds to start lap four, and 11 seconds to start the final circuit.
Brand continues in the lead of the X2O Trofee standings despite not winning any of the five rounds so far. Her 26-second lead has now increased to 49 seconds, with Van Empel jumping over Alvarado into second overall, while Alvarado is third at 1:17 and Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), who finished sixth on the day, in fourth at 1:54.
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