British champion outsprints Sanne van Paassen to take the blue and yellow stars jersey
Great Britain’s Helen Wyman added the title of European champion to her national crown as she outsprinted the Netherlands’ Sanne van Paassen on the Ipswich, England, course. Wyman, who won the Koppenbergcross in her adopted home town of Oudenaarde, Belgium, just two days before, managed to hold on to her form from that tough race, to beat the Tabor World Cup winner by a few centimetres to take the yellow-starred blue jersey.
Wyman’s compatriot Nikki Harris, who had so narrowly lost out to Wyman on the Koppenberg, finished third 24 seconds later to put a second British rider on the podium in their home race.
Clearly the strongest pair in the race, Wyman and van Paassen steadily rode the rest of the field off their wheels in the 40-minute race. Within two laps, only Harris and France’s Christel Ferrier Bruneau were able to stay with them; Belgian champion Sanne Cant was in pursuit, ahead of a second Frenchwoman Lucie Chainel-Lefevre and a third Briton in Gabby Day.
Ferrier Bruneau was the next to be dropped, with Harris finally distanced with just under three laps to go; despite pressure from home rider Wyman, van Paassen managed to hold on, but the sprint that had seen her overcome the United States’ Katie Compton in Tabor was not enough to deny Wyman this time.
Netherlands takes junior and under-23 men’s titles as powerful Belgians flop
Despite Belgium packing the top tens of both races, it was the Netherlands that took victory in the junior and under-23 titles through Mathieu van der Poel and Mike Teunissen respectively.
World junior champion Van der Poel, the son of former World elite champion Adrie, rode away from the rest of the field to win the title by 31 seconds over a sprint between Clément Russo of France and Yannick Peeters of Belgium. Russo prevailed and took the silver medal, ahead of Peeters - who is also the son of a former star in Omega Pharma-Quick Step directeur sportif Wilfried - whose bronze was to be the only medal for the mighty cyclocross nation.
In the under-23 race a group of Teunissen and Netherlands teammate Come van Kessel, Loïc Doubey of France, and Jens Adams of Belgium arrived at the finish together. The two Dutchmen were the fastest on the line - succeeding compatriot and current World under-23 champion Lars van der Haar - to take the title, ahead of van Kessel; Doubey overcame Adams to take the bronze medal.
Result Elite Women
1. Helen Wyman (Great Britain)
2. Sanne van Paassen (Netherlands)
3. Nikki Harris (Great Britain)
4. Christel Ferrier Bruneau (France)
5. Sanne Cant (Belgium)
6. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (France)
7. Gabriella Day (Great Britain)
8. Louise Robinson (Great Britain)
9. Sophie de Boer (Netherlands)
10. Ellen Van Loy (Belgium)
Result Under-23 Men
1. Mike Teunissen (Netherlands)
2. Come van Kessel (Netherlands)
3. Loïc Doubey (France)
4. Jens Adams (Belgium)
5. Wout Van Aert (Belgium)
6. Emiel Dolfsma (Netherlands)
7. Clément Venturini (France)
8. Tim Merlier (Belgium)
9. Toon Aerts (Belgium)
10. Michael Vanthourenhout (Belgium)
Result Junior Men
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands)
2. Clément Russo (France)
3. Yannick Peeters (Belgium)
4. Martijn Budding (Netherlands)
5. Nicolas Kleppe (Belgium)
6. Gioele Bertolini (Italy)
7. Kobe Goossens (Belgium)
8. Thomas Joseph (Belgium)
9. Quinten Hermans (Belgium)
10. Richard Jansen (Netherlands)