Marianne Vos rode to an easy victory today – winning the elite women’s 2014 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide.
Today’s race began with Vos executing a blistering start, while race hopeful Katie Compton experienced difficulties that sent her almost immediately to the pits.
From there, Compton’s troubles only got worse, as the American champion became involved in a crash with Pavla Havlikova that left their bikes locked together. And, while they struggled to get free, the field continued to ride away – with Helen Wyman and Eva Lechner at the front and Vos looming in third.
At one point, Vos took over the lead, with only Lechner able to follow – leaving Wyman to a distant third position.
As Vos and Lechner battled for the lead, Compton tried in earnest to make her way up through the field.
By the end of the first lap, Vos began to ride clear of Lechner – subsequently creating a slight gap of 3 seconds over her, while Wyman remained in third at 19 seconds back. At that point, Compton was already more than half a minute behind.
During lap two, Vos had opened up a gap of almost 20 seconds over Lechner. Meanwhile, Sanne Cant caught up with Wyman – followed by Compton.
By the end of lap two, Vos had increased her lead over Lechner by 23 seconds – with Cant, Wyman and Compton trailing at almost a minute back.
In the remaining two laps, Lechner hit a barrier – leaving her to struggle to hold on to second place. Meanwhile, Compton continued to try and shed Cant. However, Cant held on strong – subsequently distancing herself from Compton.
Going into the final lap, Vos continued to stay well out front – followed by Lechner at almost a minute behind. However, the race for third place came down to a battle between Wyman and Cant – as Compton had slipped even further back.
In the meantime, Vos continued her relentless pace up front, with Lechner clinging to second – as Cant and Wyman began to closed in.
In the final moments of the last lap, Wyman attacked Cant – opening up a slight gap that the Belgian rider couldn’t close.
The race concluded with Vos soloing to victory – followed by Lechner at 1:07 behind, with Wyman finishing third a further 10 seconds behind her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4apa7FDCsco
Top 25 Finishers
1 Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 0:39:25 2 Eva Lechner (Italy) 0:01:07 3 Helen Wyman (Great Britain) 0:01:17 4 Sanne Cant (Belgium) 0:01:20 5 Nikki Harris (Great Britain) 0:02:33 6 Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (France) 0:02:44 7 Loes Sels (Belgium) 0:02:47 8 Thalita De Jong (Netherlands) 0:02:52 9 Katherine Compton (United States Of America) 0:02:58 10 Caroline Mani (France) 0:02:59 11 Martina Mikulaskova (Czech Republic) 0:03:11 12 Ellen Van Loy (Belgium) 0:03:19 13 Kaitlin Antonneau (United States Of America) 0:03:23 14 Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) 0:03:28 15 Elle Anderson (United States Of America) 16 Elisabeth Brandau (Germany) 0:03:42 17 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France) 0:03:53 18 Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands) 0:03:54 19 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Italy) 0:03:55 20 Githa Michiels (Belgium) 0:04:03 21 Yara Kastelijn (Netherlands) 0:04:22 22 Aida Nuno Palacio (Spain) 23 Jessica Lambracht (Germany) 0:04:31 24 Meredith Miller (United States Of America) 25 Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic) 0:04:36
You must be logged in to post a comment.
