Vos claims eighth cyclocross rainbow jersey
Another unbelievable achievement in a long line of unbelievable achievements for Marianne Vos. The 34-year-old won her eighth world title after a close battle with her compatriot Lucinda Brand.
“This is really unbelievable,” Vos said after her victory. “You don’t often think back on your career towards a World Championships. I really can’t believe it.“
The Dutchwoman realised she wouldn‘t be able to drop Lucinda Brand and so she bided her time and eventually bested her in the final sprint.
“It was really very difficult. Lucinda is hard to beat and I knew it. She put pressure during the race and I tried. However, it was difficult to drive away. So I had to stay calm and do the right things in the final lap and focus on the sprint.”
Vos‘ cyclocross world titles now span 16 years, beginning in 2006. Then came the winning streak from 2009 till 2014. Her eight cyclocross rainbow jerseys are accompanied by three road world titles.
Elite women‘s race results
- Marianne Vos (Ned) – 55:00
- Lucinda Brand (Ned) + 1s
- Silvia Persico (Ita) + 51s
- Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Ned) + 1:04
- Yara Kastelijn (Ned) + 1:05
- Manon Bakker (Ned)
- Maghalie Rochette (Can) + 1:39
- Hélène Clauzel (Fra) + 1:59
- Inge van der Heijden (Ned)
- Sanne Cant (Bel) + 2:12
Tom Pidcock dominates to win his rainbow jersey
With the absence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert noone could stop Tom Pidcock from claiming the cyclocross world title. The Brit went on the offensive in the fourth lap, broke away from the rest of the field and didn‘t look back. He kept a comfortable 30-second gap until the very end. Lars van der Haar came in second and Eli Iserbyt finished third.
“It was a super tough race. It was like war”, Pidcock told the reporters. “Yet I saw an opportunity. That worked out well in the end. I think it might have been difficult to become world champion without Wout and Mathieu. Because they are not there, everyone expects it to get easier, which made it harder mentally.”
Elite men‘s race results
- Tom Pidcock (GBr) – 1:00:36
- Lars van der Haar (Ned) + 30s
- Eli Iserbyt (Bel) + 32s
- Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) + 52s
- Clément Venturini (Fra) + 57s
- Toon Aerts (Bel) + 1:02
- Jens Adams (Bel) + 1:06
- Laurens Sweeck (Bel) + 1:16
- Kevin Kuhn (Sui) + 1:36
- Daan Soete (Bel) + 1:44
