At Parkcross Maldegem, Christine Vardaros caught up with Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions), who finished eighth at the 2017 Cyclocross World Championships, and fifth at Parkcross Maldegem.
Van Loy has been the queen of holeshots this season, and at the 2017 Worlds in Bieles, she continued that trend. Only with a rainbow jersey on the line, her fast start wasn’t for television glory or the benefit of her own race or title chances.
Hear Ellen Van Loy describe her motivation for such a fast start in this short interview today at Maldegem:
We often discount the value of teamwork in cyclocross, especially at Worlds when racers from different trade teams converge on national teams, but it’s clear that coach Rudy de Bie had thought out a plan to launch Sanne Cant to the front and keep her out of trouble on the first lap.
“It was planned, totally planned. I was asked for [Sanne Cant] to do it. I did a good job I think, no?” -Ellen van Loy on her start
You can be your own judge as to the job Van Loy performed:
It’s particularly impressive watching what Van Loy pulled off knowing that she was under pressure to do it, was initially swarmed off the line, and of course racing all the others who were equally motivated to have clear lines on the technical course.
In the end, whether Marianne Vos dropped her chain or not, Sanne Cant’s win was the result was what they were gunning for when Van Loy was ordered to fire up her start and grab the holeshot.
See also: Belgian Team Coach Rudy de Bie’s pre-race interview:
Pre-Race Interviews: Wout van Aert, Tom Meeusen, Quinten Hermans and Coach Rudy De Bie
