No Ceylin Alvarado at the start in Koksijde. The Dutch woman ignores this ranking and focuses on the other rankings. The other Dutch guns were present. Fem van Empel, Lucinda Brand and Puck Pieterse were top favorites for this cross. The main question was whether it would be as exciting as on New Year’s Day in Baal.
Inge van der Heijden was the Dutch woman who was the best. She impressed in the sand, while Lucinda Brand clearly had difficulty with the surface. Pieterse and Van Empel were able to follow Van der Heijden.
Puck Pieterse dominant
Even more, Puck Pieterse blasted past her compatriot. Fem van Empel was also caught making mistakes in the sand and so Pieterse quickly took the lead. Inge van der Heijden followed six seconds after one lap, but quickly closed the gap. Brand and Van Empel already had to make up 20 seconds. Things didn’t work for world champion Van Empel.
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Inge van der Heijden is having a strong season and she showed that again today. She got stuck behind the closing gates for a while. Pieterse had another gap, but nothing had been decided yet. In the pursuit, Fem van Empel made many mistakes and they always had to be corrected. Of course that costs energy.
Battle for second place
The gap between Pieterse and Van der Heijden widened. Brand and Van Empel came closer to Van der Heijden, but not closer to Pieterse. The bird seemed to take flight. The battle for second place promised to be exciting. In the penultimate lap, Fem van Empel let her big engine speak again. Van der Heijden had to drop out.
The chasing duo gradually came closer to the leader, but Pieterse still had a lead of 20 seconds at the start of the last lap. Lucinda Brand seemed to come awfully close, but the lead was enough for the win. Brand ultimately won the battle for second place clearly against world champion Fem van Empel.
Sanne Cant will not participate in the Belgian championship, but was again the best Belgian rider today and finished in fifth place.
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Puck Pieterse: “I already had a doomsday scenario like in Baal in my head”
Pieterse stood in front of the microphone with satisfaction after the victory: “Yes, very happy of course. This victory took a while to come, but I had a good feeling on the bike today and for once I didn’t make any major mistakes. That, I think, is crucial here.”
She had to wait a long time for this victory and gradually became frustrated: “Yes, I can’t handle it very well. I know it’s also about the feeling in the match and that was better per match, so I tried to maintain that confidence. That also came from the staff, who also saw that I was getting closer week after week. Very happy that it has come to fruition.”
In the last lap, Lucinda Brand was closing in on Pieterse and the Dutch woman knew it too: “Yes, I knew she was getting closer and I already had a kind of doomsday scenario like Baal in my head where Lucinda lost a gap in the last lap. I knew it wasn’t over, but when I crossed the Herygers dune the second time, I knew that fifteen seconds is a lot to close because there are still a few faster parts. With a view to the World Cup, this is of course good to take with us and then we have to see how it goes.”
