Give Vos An Inch, She Takes A Mile

Marianne Vos defended her 2017 Parkcross title in commanding fashion in Maldegem. It was Maud Kaptheijns who stormed off the line of the mid-week Brico Cross race, setting a stiff early pace. The patient seven-time world champion allowed Kaptheijns to whittle down the lead group of riders before launching her attack.

When Vos took over the front of the race, nobody could follow her pace through the fast twisting forest section. Despite hard chase attempts from Kaptheijns and Compton, Vos’ second lap attack would earn her a victory by a margin of thirty seconds over former U23 world champion Annemarie Worst.

Sweeck Still Sweecking

Laurens Sweeck added another win to his cyclocross season in Maldegem with a well-timed late race attack. Sweeck was content to ride towards the back of the leading pack of riders while Toon Aerts, Michael Vanthourenhout, Tim Merlier, and David van der Poel traded early blows around the ripping fast parcours.

Coming off second at the world championships this past Sunday, Vanthourenhout appeared to be the strongest rider of the bunch, but the Belgian suffered a hard crash exiting a high speed sand section which saw him abandon the race.

Sweeck, having raced conservatively until the closing laps, stormed away from the tiring group of leaders, amassing a 15-second lead in the final laps.

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High Speeds & Hotly Contested Podiums

Dry, tacky conditions in Maldegem treated spectators to a true display of just how fast cyclocross racers can pilot their bikes. As the racers sped through the twist and turns, patience proved to be a virtue.

Unlike the muddy test of strength in Valkenburg, Maldegem provided racers with the opportunity to draft and plan their attack. Those who set out too hard, too early, found themselves unable to respond to the fresher legs of their rivals at the finish.

Indeed, Katie Compton and Maud Kaptheijns had to settle for fourth and fifth place while Annemarie Worst and Laura Verdonschot stole the remaining podium positions after allowing the two pre-race favorites to shoulder the responsibly of chasing Vos.

David van der Poel secured second place over Tim Merlier in a thrilling battle for the podium of the men’s race.

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Cant Takes A Victory Lap After Securing World Title

Sanne Cant got off to a good start in Maldegem and made an obligatory chase attempt early on. However, she appeared to be relaxed and unwilling to descend back into the deeper reaches of the pain cave following Sunday’s battle against Compton.

Cant settled into her own pace for the rest of the race, and cheerfully waved to her fans along the finishing stretch rather than battle Loes Sels for sixth place.

While some riders may be more relaxed following the world championships, Maldegem provided some of the fastest paced battles of the season.

The action will continue live on FloBikes this weekend at the DVV Trofee series finale in, Krawatencross, and the Superprestige race in Hoogstraten.

Both events start at 6:45 AM CST.

By Michael Sheehan