Sanne Cant's (IKO-Beobank) second straight World Championship at Valkenburg did not come easy. Cant frequently found herself battling with Katie Compton (KFC Racing p/b Trek/Knight Composites) during the season, and Saturday's race at Worlds was no different. Compton led at the bell, but Cant erased the last-lap deficit and dominated the last quarter of the race to take her second-straight title.
As she did in 2017, Cant piloted her winning ride aboard a Stevens Super Prestige. Cant's IKO-Beobank team is the sister team of Mathieu van der Poel's Corendon-Circus, but when Van der Poel's team switched to the Canyon Inflite for the new year, Cant's team, which is a largely a development program, stayed with the Super Prestige.
We profiled Cant's bike after her bronze and gold at the two U.S. World Cups earlier this year.
Sanne Cant's World Cup Waterloo-winning Stevens Super Prestige cyclocross bike. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Cant's 2018 Worlds-winning Super Prestige is different than the one we profiled when she won the 2017 Worlds in Bieles. She upgraded to the Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 groupset, running running Dura-Ace R9150 Di2 front and rear derailleurs, a R9100 crankset and R9170 hydraulic disc brake calipers and dual control brake levers.
Cant is using the new Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 crankset with unmarked, custom dual chain rings up front. Sanne Cant's World Cup Waterloo-winning Stevens Super Prestige cyclocross bike. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Cant also seems to be a NOS XTR pedal hoarder or really good at searching eBay. At the 2017 Worlds, we saw her with a scuffed up pair of discontinued M970 Shimano XTR SPD pedals:
Sanne Cant eschews the latest model Shimano SPD pedals in favor of the old M970 XTR pedals which offer less contact area and better mud clearance. 2017 Cyclocross World Championships bikes. © Cyclocross Magazine
Yet this season, she showed up with a new, prestine pair:
Although she has the same team owner as Mathieu van der Poel and component sponsor (Shimano), Sanne Cant runs production XTR SPD pedals, not the prototypes found on Mathieu van der Poel's bike. Cant's World Cup Waterloo-winning Stevens Super Prestige cyclocross bike. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
As we saw when we profiled Mathieu van der Poel's Jingle Cross-winning Stevens, the Super Prestige has been updated to include flat-mount disc brakes and a rear 12mm thru-axle, both of which are included on Cant's new bike. The other noticeable change in the build is the use of the carbon Easton EC90 SL stem and handlebars in place of the Scorpo ones she used in 2016/17.
Worlds-Worthy Differences
The most notable difference between Cant's Worlds bike and the one we profiled at Jingle Cross were the colors. In the U.S., Cant rode a black Super Prestige with a white saddle that featured a rainbow-striped homage to her 2017 world championship. At Valkenburg this year, Cant's A bike was white with a black saddle, and her B bike, which she finished the race on, was painted light blue.
Cant's A bike at Worlds was white with a black saddle. 2018 Cyclocross World Championships, Sanne Cant's Stevens Super Prestige. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
We covered the biggest ride-affecting difference for Cant in our Worlds Great Tire Switcharoo piece. The bone-dry surface and blazing temps of the Midwest U.S. were a distant memory lost in the thick mud and cold temperatures on the Cauberg.
Cant ran FMB Sprint and Slalom treads at the U.S. World Cups, and even though FMB offers the green Grippo S mud tire, she opted for Challenge Limus tubulars for Worlds. Cant tried the heavily-knobbed mud tires during pre-ride and then chose to stick with them for Saturday's race.
Sanne Cant ran the popular Challenge Limus mud tires instead of FMB tubulars. 2018 Cyclocross World Championships, Sanne Cant's Stevens Super Prestige. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
See the specs and photo gallery below for a closer look at Sanne Cant's Worlds-winning Stevens Super Prestige. If you missed it, also see our profile of Wout van Aert's Worlds-winning Felt FRDx.
For more from Worlds, see our dedicated 2018 Cyclocross World Championships page.
Specs: Sanne Cant's 2018 Worlds-Winning Stevens Super Prestige
Frame: Stevens Super Prestige Disc Di2, carbon, 12mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc brake mounts, tapered head tube
Fork: Stevens full carbon SL, flat-mount, 12mm TA
Wheels: Cole T38 CX carbon tubular disc, 12mm TA, rear alloy free hub
Tires: Challenge Limus tubular, 33mm
Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace ST-R9170 Di2 dual control, 11-speed
Brakeset: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-R9170 hydraulic disc, 140mm TRP-29 6-bolt slotted rotors front and rear
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD-R9150 Di2, 11-speed
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-R9150 Di2
Crank: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100, double unmarked chain rings, 46/36t
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-R9100
Chain: Shimano HG901
Saddle: Selle Italia, black
Seatpost: Scorpo carbon with two side-clamp bolts
Handlebars: Easton EC90 SLX carbon
Stem: Easton EC90 SL carbon
Pedals: Shimano XTR M970
Photo Gallery: Sanne Cant's Worlds-Winning Stevens Super Prestige
Sanne Cant’s B bike was painted blue, closely matching her Belgian national team kit. 2018 Cyclocross World Championships, Sanne Cant’s Stevens Super Prestige. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
