This Saturday, she could get a distinctive new jersey. With very different colors: black, yellow and red. The cyclist from Crelan-Corendon could make cycling history by becoming Belgian champion after having been French champion! As a reminder, the one established in Mouscron took Belgian nationality in 2021.It would be really special to obtain this title, in this country in which I have always felt at homeshe confides. Like every year, I made this meeting a goal.”
After her victory in Essen, Marion Norbert Riberolle wants to continue her momentum: “I reached a milestone with the road season”
This Saturday, on the Heusden-Zolder course, she will be the number 1 favorite among the elite ladies. “Unfortunately, Sanne Cant will no longer be there. I would have liked to ride with her again on this National and manage to… get ahead of her. This had not been possible during my three previous participations in the Belgian championship.”
gullSanne Cant is an icon in Belgium. His estate is open. And I hope to succeed him.
That she has always finished on the podium: third last year in Meulebeke and second the two previous seasons, in Lokeren and Middelkerke. “But it’s Sanne’s choice. She announced last year that her fifteenth victory in the Belgian championship would be her last… Sanne is a true icon in Belgium, but also in cyclo-cross. His estate is open. And I hope to succeed him! Even if I decided not to worry, not to put too much pressure on myself. I’m pretty stressed in general. In recent years, when I went on training, I only thought about the Belgian championship… This has not been the case recently. I tell myself that it’s an important race like any other, like a round of the Superprestige… So I approach it in a more calm, less stressed way. But also more confident.”
-Laura Verdonschot operated on femoral arteries after the Belgian championships
Thanks to his season, marked by two victories, at Loenhout and Essen, but also with podiums, like in Superprestige, at Niel. “I am quite satisfied with my season, especially with more consistency in the World Cup rounds. Even if I was aiming for better than eighth on Sunday in Dendermonde. But I suffered three punctures there…”
In the absence of Sanne Cant, who is Marion Norbert Riberolle wary of this Saturday? “There are always surprises at the championships and I know that I will be closely watchedrecounts the tenth in the latest UCI ranking, driven by Filip Walsleben. Laura Verdonschot must have surgery. Fleur Moors will not start (Editor’s note: she suffers from an infection). It will be quite open. I think Marthe Truyen can give a good performance there. We will also have to look at Julie Brouwers or Alicia Frank. And of course, we will have to take into account the weather conditions, see what the course will be like on Saturday, after this week’s snowfall. I think that for the first time, the Heusden-Zolder route will be less rolling than usual. It’s going to be a real championship course.”
Another Walloon arrives in the Lotto team, that of the hopefuls: the double Belgian track champion Thibaut Bernard
Related News :