A false start to the European Cyclo-Cross Championships for Nette Coppens, one of the two Belgian representatives among the women’s promises. She crashed into the closing gates in one of the first corners.
Fleur Moors got off to a good start and continued to follow in the footsteps of the top favorites. A threesome was clearly too strong for her and for the rest. Marie Schreiber, Célia Gery and Leonie Bentveld competed for the medals.
That trio stayed together lap after lap, a shadow play on the lightning-fast circuit in Pontevedra. In the final lap, Bentveld was the first to fold under Schreiber’s persistent pace. The Luxembourgish was in the lead from start to finish.
But she couldn’t get rid of first-year promise Gery. In the sprint for the European title, the young Frenchwoman surprised with an early acceleration, to which Schreiber had no answer. Gold for France!
Moors finished fifth, well behind the podium. Coppens recovered from her early fall and finished twelfth.
