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Cyclo-Cross World Cup #7 - CDM
Hofstade, Belgium, December 26, 2007
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Race 3 - December 26: Elite Women, 40 minutes
World champion Salvetat takes first World Cup of the season
By Brecht Decaluwé in Hofstade, with additional reporting by Gregor Brown
Five women dominated the women's race. Last year's winner Hanka Kupfernagel got away with Daphny Van Den Brand who has been dominating the World Cup this year with three out of four wins. Her compatriot Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn featured in the group as well and after a while world champion Maryline Salvetat bridged up towards the leaders after a poor start.
Just as young Belgian Sanne Cant also joined the leaders, Salvetat attacked the leading group. The French woman created a safe gap and powered towards her first World Cup win of the season. Behind her Daphny Van Den Brand attacked the chasing group and got away for good thanks to the protection of compatriot Hormes-Ravenstijn.
World champion time trial Kupfernagel managed to get away from Cant and Hormes-Ravenstijn but couldn't create a significant enough gap. In the ultimate lap she was caught by the duo behind her. The young Belgian Cant showed she has a great future ahead of her and she was supported by the big crowds of 20,000. The announcer reminded spectators that Belgium has never had a top-three finisher in a World Cup in the past.
It came down to a sprint for third place and it was Hormes-Ravenstijn who powered to the ultimate podium spot, with Kupfernagel on her wheel and Cant coming in exhausted for fifth.
While there was no Katie Compton at the start in Hofstade, Lyne Bessette was expected to battle along the leaders today. Surprisingly the Canadian pulled out after the first lap explaining she wasn't feeling well. "As soon as we started I didn't have the fight in me to do anything," Bessette said to Cyclingnews.
Winner Salvetat was delighted with her victory in Hofstade. "It's great to win here," said Salvetat to Cyclingnews after her first World Cup win of the season. "I had a bad start, I crashed, and had to chase for a while. I didn't panic because I knew that I needed the energy for the two ultimate laps as the course is very demanding." The world champion hasn't have a great season so far, but Salvetat explained why. "I want to go to the Olympics and I'm building up my season for that goal. I didn't race in November and after the World Championships I will take a break again."
Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn was happy with her third place. "I took a bad start and could overcome that. I love this course as you need to change your tactics on every section. At some points you need to pace yourself but for instance, in the sand, you need to go full out," the Dutch woman showed her experience. "In the last laps I hesitated if I would attack or not because I noticed we were getting back [up to] Daphny [Van Den Brand] too fast. Eventually she stayed ahead but I ended up leading out the sprint. I gave all I had and apparently Kupfernagel and Cant were dead by then."
The young Belgian in fifth place was possibly disappointed that she lost the battle for the ultimate podium spot, but she realized she was battling much stronger and more experienced women. "I didn't expect to do so well today, it's unbelievable." The Belgian made up for less power with her great sand riding skills. "Sand is something that suits me," the 17 year-old said.
Helen Wyman chased for a long time but fell short of a top-five result in Hofstade. "It's too bad because this is a home race for me, as I live near the course when I'm in Belgium. I just didn't have the legs today. I had the best possible start but messed it up at the first hill. I tried to accelerate all the time but I had no power in my legs," Wyman said.
Results
1 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) VSLL Castres 40.52 2 Daphny van den Brand (Ned) ZZPR.nl 0.34 3 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Ned) ZZPR.nl 0.41 4 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Focus 5 Sanne Cant (Bel) ASD Selle Italia Guerciotti 0.42 6 Helen Wyman (GBr) Global Racing Team 1.01 7 Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Ned) Team Flexpoint 1.13 8 Loes Sels (Bel) Vlaanderen - Capri Sonne - T Interim 1.29 9 Linda Van Rijen (Ned) Team DSB Bank 1.38 10 Veerle Ingels (Bel) AVB/USspa Cycling Team 1.44 11 Sanne Van Paassen (Ned) Team DSB Bank 1.48 12 Birgit Hollmann (Ger) Team Getränke-Hoffmann 13 Nadia Triquet-Claude (Fra) French National Team 1.50 14 Saskia Elemans (Ned) WV de Meteoor 2.04 15 Katrien Pauwels (Bel) Empella Czech Team 16 Pavla Havlikova (Cze) KC Kooperativa SG Jablonec n.N 2.05 17 Sue Butler (USA) River City Bicycles 18 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona-Yor Key Mortgage Team 19 Stephanie Pohl (Ger) Team Getränke-Hoffmann 2.07 20 Christelle Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) French National Team 2.32 21 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Team Ton van Bemmelen Sports - OdySis 2.54 22 Elke Riedl (Ned) Restore Cycling 3.27 23 Gesa Bruchmann (Ger) RSG Nordheide 4.05 24 Wendy Williams (USA) River City Bicycles 4.23 25 Gabriella Day (GBr) Global Racing Team 4.44 26 Natasha Elliott (Can) Stevens Cross 4.48 27 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) French National Team 5.02 28 Caroline Mani (Fra) CR Franche Comté 5.14 29 Nicole Kampeter (Ger) RC Endspurt Herford 5.16 30 Julie Krasniak (Fra) French National Team 31 Anja Nobus (Bel) Wielerclub Oostende Noordzee 5.27 32 Ayako Toyooka (Jpn) 5.49 33 Anne Arnouts (Bel) Koninklijke Hoboken W.A.C. V.Z.W. 6.03 34 Rebecca Wellons (USA) Ridley Factory Team 6.06 35 Mika Ogishima (Jpn) UWTC de Volharding 6.45 36 Nicole De Bie (Bel) USspa Cycling Team 6.47 37 Christine Vardaros (USA) Team Vanderkitten 7.54 38 Suzie Godart (Lux) Fenixs - HPB 8.56 One lap behind 39 Lise Müller (Swi) Swiss National Team DNF Barbara Howe (USA) Velo Bella/Kona DNF Lyne Bessette (Can) Team Cyclecrossworld.Com DNS Katrien Aerts (Bel) Benelux Team
