OVERIJSE, Belgium—Sophie de Boer (Kalas-H.Essers-NNOF) battled Sanne Cant (Enertherm-Beobank) down to the wire yesterday at Essen, falling just short in her comeback sprint to take the win, but today at Vlaamse Druivencross Overijse, she left nothing to chance. Starting fast and quickly taking to the front on the first time up the long paved climb, De Boer was in control on the technical, muddy track and never looked back.
De Boer used the climbs to her advantage, powering away out of the saddle on her Southern California-engineered mystery bike every time the road pointed up.
Sophie de Boer adds another victory to a strong season. photo: 2016 Superprestige Ruddervoorde cyclocross race, Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Behind, Ellen van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions) looked to protect her position in second, while yesterday’s winner in Essen, Sanne Cant (Enertherm-Beobank) never factored. Cant suffered on the climbs and took a nasty fall in one of the muddy ditches.
@Sannecant How's your eye? #Cyclocross @cyclocross pic.twitter.com/3EeO9OSnN6
— AL Dente (@ALDente_Velo) December 11, 2016
Behind, the race for third was the most suspenseful, with Nikki Brammeier (Boels-Dolmans), Jolien Verschueren (Telenet Fidea Lions), Alice Maria Arzuffi (Selle Italia Guerciotti) and Lucinda Brand (Rabobank – Liv) in the mix. Disaster struck in the form of a mechanical for Brand, sending her running on the last lap and falling way back to eighth.
Fast finisher Verschueren ran her way to secure third, with Brammeier in fourth. American Kaitie Antonneau (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) had a strong ride, moving up to sixth by the finish, her second top ten of the weekend after finishing seventh in Essen.
American Christine Vardaros finished in 21st.
De Boer Sophie wint in Overijse. Van Loy Ellen wordt tweede, Jolien Verschueren derde. #Druivencross #Overijse pic.twitter.com/6FMBEmFIJT
— Druivencross (@Druivencross) December 11, 2016
See extended race highlights in the video below.
2016 Vlaamse Druivencross Overijse Video:
2016 Vlaamse Druivencross Overijse Results - Elite Women
| Pl | Rider | Nat | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sophie De Boer | NED | 0:41:29 |
| 2 | Ellen Van Loy | BEL | 0:00:31 |
| 3 | Jolien Verschueren | BEL | 0:00:54 |
| 4 | Nikki Brammeier | GBR | 0:01:22 |
| 5 | Alice Maria Arzuffi | ITA | 0:01:31 |
| 6 | Kaitlin Antonneau | USA | 0:01:41 |
| 7 | Ffion James | GBR | 0:02:06 |
| 8 | Lucinda Brand | NED | 0:02:07 |
| 9 | Karen Verhestraeten | BEL | 0:02:30 |
| 10 | Anne Terpstra | NED | 0:02:56 |
| 11 | Kim Van De Steene | BEL | 0:03:22 |
| 12 | Sanne Cant | BEL | 0:03:44 |
| 13 | Joyce Vanderbeken | BEL | 0:04:07 |
| 14 | Evie Richards | GBR | 0:04:16 |
| 15 | Bianca Van Den Hoek | NED | 0:04:41 |
| 16 | Julia Boschker | NED | 0:05:14 |
| 17 | Linda Ter Beek | NED | 0:05:33 |
| 18 | Ella Conolly | GBR | 0:06:42 |
| 19 | Julie Van De Velde | BEL | 0:06:54 |
| 20 | Elena Valentini | ITA | 0:07:01 |
| 21 | Christine Vardaros | USA | 0:07:46 |
| 22 | Kristien Nelen | BEL | |
| 23 | Birgit Massagé | BEL | |
| 24 | Tinne Vermeiren | BEL |
