Cant beats Vos at Krawatencross; Helen Wyman third

Beating the World Champion must feel great. When that World Champion is Marianne Vos, and you also beat the European Champion Helen Wyman, it must feel absolutely fantastic - which explains Belgian Champion Sanne Cant's delight as she took the top step of the podium following Saturday's BPost Bank Trofee Krawatencross race at Lille. The victory was sweetened yet further due to the Belgian having been fourth  at last weekend's World Championships where Vos won and Wyman was third - and by the fact that Vos won this very race for the last two years, beating Cant (3rd 2012, 2nd 2013) on both occasions. Wyman, who is British Champion for the eighth time this season as well as European Champion for the second time, seemed unable to match Cant and Vos as the race progressed and left the pair fighting a private battle all of their own, each rider refusing to back down all the way to the final approach to the finish. With the race looking certain to end in a sprint the majority of fans will have been expecting Vos to add yet another victory to her spectacular palmares despite Cant's skill on a sandy parcours such as this, but then the Dutch superstar's foot slipped from the pedal. She probably lost no more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough: Cant noticed and attacked hard, taking the tiny advantage that was she needed to triumph. Wyman will also be pleased with her result: she's never stood on the podium at this race before. The only other British rider was Nikki Harris, who took fourth place. Although Wyman still leads the series overall, her advantage is now just 31" to Cant (Harris is third at +1'11"). The final round, taking place at Oostmalle on the 23rd of February, promises therefore to be one of the season highlights. Helen Wyman's race report Video: Cant wins Krawatencross Krawatencross Full Result 1  Sanne Cant (Enertherm - Bkcp)  BEL 2  Marianne Vos (Rabobank Women Team)  NED 3  Helen Wyman (Kona)  GBR 4  Nikki Harris (Telenet Fidea Cycling Team Young NPI)  GBR 5  Loes Sels (Young Telenet Fidea)  BEL 6  Sophie De Boer (Kdl Cycling Team)  NED 7  Yara Kastelijn (Rtc Buitenlust)  NED 8  Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea)  BEL 9  Pavla Havlikova (Young Telenet - Fidea)  CZE 10  Githa Michiels (Toka Print Mtb Team)  BEL 11 Karen Verhestraeten (Sengers Ladies Cycling Team) BEL 12 Reza Ravenstijn-Hormes NED 13 Jolien Verschueren (Dncs/pro 2012 Cycling Team) BEL 14 Esmee Oosterman (Wrv DE Peddelaars) NED 15 Laura Verdonschot (Vzw Lotto - Ladiescycling) BEL 16 Maud Kaptheyns NED 17 Katrien Thijs (UP Cycling Team) BEL 18 Hilde Quintens BEL 19 Lotte Eikelenboom (Drc De Mol) NED 20 Kim Banga NED 21 Christine Vardaros (Baboco - Revor Cycling Team) USA 22 Shana Maes BEL 23 Ilona Meter (Rcp Stevens) NED 24 Nele Van Maldeghem BEL 25 Suzie Godart LUX 26 Suzanne Verhoeven NED 27 Gertie Willems BEL 28 Meg De Bruyne BEL 29 Lena Bischoff-Stein 30 Nathalie Nijns BEL 31 Tine Verdeyen BEL 32 Lene Vrijsen BEL 33 Mara Schwager GER 34 Caren Commissaris (UP Cycling Team) BEL 35 Valerie Boonen BEL 36 Laura Krans NED 37 Anja Geldhof BEL 38 Brenda Kaczmarczyk BEL 39 Yenthe Boons BEL 40 Jessika Timmermans BEL 41 Cindy Diericx BEL 42 Britta Werners GER 43 Caitlyn La Haye BEL 44 Sandra Sintobin BEL

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Van Den Brand wins Oostmalle

Winning the last race of your career is always going to be good - but if all your competitors pay tribute to you and you beat the current Word Champion, it must be absolutely fantastic.

Daphny Van Den Brand: a great race, a great season and a spectacular career
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0)

Daphny Van Den Brand will therefore be celebrating tonight, because this is precisely what happened to her today at Oostmalle, the final round of the GVA Trofee. First, all the riders wore their hair in pigtails (see Helen Wyman here), as she has always done in races, to show tribute; and then she beat none other than Marianne Vos (who was in this race, despite the dodgy start list we'd seen which said she wasn't!). The home-made pie baked for her by the Telenet-Fidea team will have been welcome too, looking as delicious as it did.

"Afterwards, I asked Marianne if she let me win," says Daphny, who will now retire from cyclo cross, "but she said I was the better rider."

Congratulations, Daphny, on a great race, a great season and a spectacular career. The cyclo cross world will miss you.

Things didn't go so well for Gabby Day - the British rider crashed early in the race and was taken to hospital. Get well soon, Gabby!

"@Gabby_Day
Nasty crash at the very start of todays race, taken to hospital & have had stitches in my face. Battered and bruised all over, very sore :-("

(More pigtails!)

Results:

  1.  Daphny Van Den Brand
  2.  Marianne Vos
  3.  Sanne Van Paassen
  4.  Sanne Cant  
  5.  Nikki Harris  
  6.  Sabrina Stultiens 
  7.  Arenda Grimberg  
  8.  Helen Wyman  
  9.  Pavla Havlikova  
  10.  Joyce Vanderbeken  
  11.  Amy Dombroski  
  12.  Sophie De Boer  
  13.  Nicolle De Bie Leyten  
  14.  Nikoline Hansen  
  15.  Evy Kuijpers  
  16.  Iris Ockeloen  
  17.  Ellen Van Loy  
  18.  Lana Verberne  
  19.  Karen Verhestraeten    
  20.  Nancy Bober  
  21.  Katrien Thijs  
  22.  Anja Geldhof  
  23.  Margriet Kloppenburg  
  24.  Christine Vardaros  
  25.  Katrien Vermeiren  
  26.  Nele Van Maldeghem  
  27.  Madara Furmane  
  28.  Janice Geyskens  
  29.  Marijke De Pauw  
  30.  Tine Verdeyen 
  31.  Sandie Verriest 
  32.  Caitlyn La Haye 
  33.  Maaike Lanssens 

GVA Trofee: Oostmalle

Click to enlarge
(image credit:  WSC Oostmalle)

Bad news - Sunday the 19th of February brings the last big cyclo cross meet of the season. However, the upset is slightly lessened by the fact that it's the GVA Trofee at Oostmalle; one of the most twisty, turny, technical tracks to have ever felt the rough touch of a pair of Rhinos. There are some similarities between this parcours and the legendary Koksijde with some sections on runway and some on sand; but the terrain that characterises this race is woodland. The highest points just reach 29m, but with the lowest at 17m on a parcours 3km in length there are some steep ramps with a maximum gradient of around 6.7% in places.

From the start line (51°16'36.78"N 4°45'35.66"E) the riders have a 390m blast along the runway to start off, a state of affairs that will suit Helen Wyman after she's been demonstrating how fast she is in an opening sprint recently,  then it ends abruptly with a sharp left onto sand, potentially shattering the lead of any rider who was fastest from the line and passing over the reins to those riders who can best handle the technical sections. After 200m (look here for an old oak tree which, with its roots half exposed, looks as though it's trying to crawl away), the parcours again turns left and follows a track for a few metres , then turns left to travel past the "Publiekstent" (which is probably where you need to go if you want beer), through a tight V-shaped bend and onward to the pits. After turning right, riders dip briefly into woodland and negotiate a couple of tight left-hand turns, then emerge back onto the sand and follow the edge of the woods back past the runway.

Having followed the perimeter of the woods for 110mm, the riders duck back into the trees for a relatively uncomplicated and straight 100m back through to the sand on the other side and then turn left before the path leads into the woods again 20m later. The following section, just under half a kilometre in length, is entirely in the woods and features some tight bends, sharp corners and all the usual puncture risks that lurk within a forest environment. It comes out back onto sand, then after 23m it's left and back into the woods again. This section has fewer bends than the last, but climbs fairly steeply and then descends fast just before it spits the riders back out onto the sand and into some hairpins. Once through, they make a second pass of the pits and remain on sand as they follow the path around the north-western banks of the lake to a track.

After just a few metres on the track, the parcours leads back onto the sand in the opposite direction it came for around 45m, then turns sharply right into the woods once more. This final 475m is entirely forested and features several technical sections, including sharp corners hairpins and the always-amusing beams over which most riders will shoulder their bikes but those with the skills (or desire to show off) will bunnyhop (51°16'37.51"N 4°45'46.09"E). It emerges at the runway next to the VIP tent near the start line, where another lap begins. On the final lap, riders will sprint along the runway to the finish line located just before the first corner (51°16'28.03"N 4°45'47.98"E).

Altimetry (click for enlargement)

Les Déesses de la Route Choices: Daphny Van Den Brand is the most obvious - she's been on fire over the past month and this, the last race of this year's Trofee, would be a fantastic way to end her 'cross career - she plans to retire once the season ends. Both the Sannes, Van Paassen and Cant, could also do well here and will be looking for a chance to end the season on a high note, as will British riders Nikki Harris, Helen Wyman and Gabby Day. Harris has ridden exceptionally well in her last two or three races and there's no reason she won't do so again here. As mentioned earlier, that long sprint from the start and up to the finish line will suit Wyman very well; however, she says she's been suffering with a stomach bug this week - best wishes for a speedy recovery Helen. Then, there's Marianne Vos, of course - the seemingly unbeatable World Champion. Finally, Christine Vardoros will no doubt also want to do well after her chances at Heerlen last week were ruined by an asthma attack. That she kept going and finished the race on that occasion proves she certainly has the determination!


Programme: 10:00 Novices, 11:00 Juniors, 12:00 Under-23, 13:45 Elite Women, 15:00 Elite Men (CET)
Streams: Cycling Fans are showing the Elite Men. If anyone manages to locate a stream for the Elite Women, please let us know either by email, Tweet or in the messages after this article.