Kata Blanka Vas wrote down the Hexia Cyclocross in Gullegem on Saturday. The 19-year-old Hungarian took advantage of the absence of the Dutch toppers in West Flanders to take the measure of Belgian champion Sanne Cant again three days after her victory in Bredene. In the sprint for second place, he was outdone by Inge Van der Heijden.
In the busy end of year period, the Dutch top women Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Lucinda Brand, Denise Betsema and Annemarie Worst left the cross in Gullegem. The chance for Sanne Cant to taste the victory again. But just like in Bredene, she had no story about the 19-year-old Hungarian Kata Blanka Vas (Doltcini).
The match scenario was also the same as last Wednesday. The best start was for the French champion Marion Norbert Riberolle, but even before the start of the second round, Vas shot away from Cant and co. To the anger of Cant’s sports director Christoph Roodhooft. “It was simple today, Sanne only had to concentrate on one rear wheel. I don’t really understand ”, Roodhooft grumbled at the Play Sports microphone. “I am not disappointed, but I say it like it is.”
Photo: BELGA
Sanne Cant hit the snot, but the gap of six seconds after two laps became an unbridgeable gap of half a minute. Cant and the Dutch Inge van der Heijden had to be content with a sprint for second place. Van der Heijden turned out to be just a bit faster than the Belgian champion. For top talent Kata Blanka Vas it was her fourth victory of the season, her second in Belgium.
Sanne Cant: “If I hadn’t been here, would you have been content?”
“It was a sprint of the dying swans”, Sanne Cant analyzed. “I rode the entire cross together with Inge Van der Heijden, we were evenly matched. The strong start of the French champion has killed us a bit. After such a tough cross in Baal yesterday, such a fast start is the last thing you want. Afterwards it was a bit the same story as in Bredene. We tried to bridge the gap with Vas, but we couldn’t. And then we just sought our own pace. ”
Unlike her competitors, Sanne Cant will compete in almost all races this winter. Isn’t she taking too much on her fork, which makes her lack freshness? “I do a lot of races, if I had to miss one it would have been this one. But would you have been content? It is logical that I ride all classification crosses, but if I do not start in Bredene and Gullegem that is a shame for the organizers and the TV viewers. And my sponsors wouldn’t laugh about it, if I didn’t drive yesterday, for example. That just won’t work. There is already no public allowed to come to the cross, then you have to achieve all publicity via TV. Then I just can’t pass a cross that is broadcast live on VRT. Then the story is simply over. For the same money I have good legs today and I can ride here to win. You don’t know that in advance. It’s hard to choose what to drive and what not to drive I just want to drive everything and one day I will reap the benefits. ”
Winner Vas likes tactical courses: “Rather this than a mud cross”
“Just like in Bredene, I am extremely happy”, she explained afterwards. “This is my first victory of the new year, my fourth victory of the season (she also won cyclocross races in the Czech Republic and Poland, ed.). I used 2021 in an excellent way. And it is also a sign that I am in good shape. ”
The Hungarian has never raced in Gullegem. She did come and train there. On Saturday she defeated the whole pack in an impressive way. “After the World Cup Cross in Tabor at the end of November, where I finished fourth, I went on a training internship to Spain. There I was able to recharge the batteries. I resumed in Antwerp and after that it just got better and better. Then those victories came in Bredene and today in Gullegem. Those two crosses in West Flanders were based on a tactical course and that speaks in my favor. The mud strips were also not too bad in Bredene and Gullegem. A lot better than what we had to endure in Dendermonde. Tomorrow / Sunday I will start in the World Cup Cross in Hulst in the Netherlands. We’ll see how it goes there. ”
