Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) dominated from start to finish on the muddy course in Hulst, claiming the first elite UCI World Cup victory of her career. The 21-year-old seized the holeshot and never looked back her lead, navigating the slippery terrain with the least mistakes to finish 20 seconds ahead of her nearest rival.
Behind her, the battle for podium positions unfolded between Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Annemarie Worst (Cyclocross Reds), and Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon). Brand surged ahead on the penultimate lap to claim second, while Pieterse crossed the line in third, 28 seconds behind Schreiber.
“I don’t really have the words. I mean, I don’t really believe it yet. I took a good start and I was leading and suddenly I was leading by a lot and I was expecting to every ways the race to come back, but then with two laps to go I was like, shit, I can really win this. I got really nervous. I try not to make mistakes, but yeah, I felt really good, like my legs were super good, but I have to say in the last lap, I made some mistake because I realised I was gonna win this.” Schreiber said.
“And I have to be honest, I had a pretty rough week because my dog died on Wednesday, so in the last days I was really not there,” she added, “when I’m on the bike I was actually in my tunnel, so… during the race, I was somewhere else, I was so focused, but at the same time nervous and I didn’t really know how it was gonna go so I’m just over the moon with the win.”
“Remaining calm” is one thing that Schreiber is the most proud of from today’s race.
“I always have the good start and then I drop back a bit. But I mean actually to be leading from start to finish s pretty sick feeling, and yeah, it’s something I can be proud of.”
After securing third in the season’s opening World Cup in Antwerp, Schreiber stepped up to claim her first victory.
“I was thinking at the beginning of the season to get better with each race, and the last couple of races I knew it’s close, but there’s something missing and yeah, today it worked out. I don’t know if, yeah, I mean if I was that much better, but I don’t really know what to say.”
The next round of the World Cup will take place in on Sunday.
“Tomorrow is the next race again maybe I’ll have all eyes on you tomorrow now but no pressure, I have my win now. Tomorrow will be a new day new race.”
More to come….
Results
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