Helen Wyman powered her way to victory to the most significant victory in her career to date with a win at the Koppenberg cross. Along with Koksijde, this race is one of the most coveted prizes in cyclo-cross and is also Helen’s first victory in a UCI cyclo-cross in Belgium.
‘It’s been 6 years in the planning, but I’ve done it. My form has been good, and I knew this would be my chance to use it 100%. This is a real cross, no matter what the conditions, but today was pretty special.’ said Helen after the race. ‘I’d had 2 podiums this week already, so I’m so happy to finish off the set of podiums with such a big event.’
On the first lap, Pavla Havlikova took the race on and led into the first uphill offroad section, but she would soon pay for her efforts. Helen took over the lead and it was just Sanne Cant that was able to follow. The pair worked hard and distanced themselves from the field behind.
A small crash (One of many) and a flat tyre left Helen chasing just behind Sanne, but the table was soon to turn. Helen had re-taken the lead, and Sanne then suffered a mechanical problem and was unable to close the gap to Helen.
Helen was left to celebrate her win in style and enjoy her time on the podium. With 20,000 spectators at the race, this is the biggest win other than Koksijde a cyclo-cross rider can have. The winner get a Koppenberg cobblestone and it’s sure to be a prized possession for Helen.
‘All the riders out there were tired, including myself. I was down in Italy training two weeks back, then I’ve had 4 races in the last 8 days. All the top riders have done then as well, so we’re all tired. Sanne van Passsen has been so strong this season, and Daphny had 2 wins this week, so to be able to put in a good gap to riders of their quality, and with their form is fantastic. It makes the win even better.’
‘Now I’m going to prepare for the European Championships this weekend in Frankfurt. I got bronze last year, and would like to repeat or better that. It’s not a target race for me, but I always want to do well. Koksijde is the next big target. If there were ‘monuments’ in cyclo-cross, it would be this race and Koksijde. I guess it would be good to win them both in the same season!’
1 Helen Wyman (GBr) Kona 0:45:14
2 Sanne Cant (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 0:00:33
3 Sanne van Paassen (Ned) BrainWash 0:01:55
4 Daphny van den Brand (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil 0:02:37
5 Sophie De Boer (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil 0:03:25
6 Joyce Vanderbeken (Bel) 0:04:48
7 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Ned) 0:05:24
8 Nikki Harris (GBr) 0:06:01
9 Nancy Bober (Bel) 0:06:18
10 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) 0:06:40
