Radcross: The Radcross World Championships in Valkenburg brought the hosts three medals right from the start. In all three competitions held today, the Dutch won precious metal. However, it was not enough for gold. Not surprisingly, Sanne Cant from Belgium triumphed in the women's category. The German Elisabeth Brandau was surprisingly strong, coming in fifth and just missing out on a medal. It was even closer for junior Tom Lindner. The German finished fourth. Our neighboring country made history for this: Nadja Heigl won the first medal for the Austrian Cycling Association at a world championship in cyclocross with the U23.
Cant defends her title, Brandau strong fifth
In the Dutch town of Valkenburg Sanne Cant gilded the season this afternoon. The 27-year-old dominated the entire World Cup season and, as the reigning world and European champion anyway, went into the cyclocross world championships as the clear favorite. The Belgian was able to withstand this pressure and these expectations. On the difficult course in Valkenburg, however, it turned out to be an extremely exciting race. The US and Pan-American champions were able to stand up to the favourite Catherine Compton. In the end, however, she eluded her and finished XNUMX seconds ahead of her. Third place went to the Dutch woman Lucinca Brand. Behind Christine Majerus the German mountain biker drove from Luxembourg Elizabeth Brandau surprisingly to a very respectable fifth place.
Lotta, rimonta and vince: Sanne #cant si conferma campionessa del mondo di Cyclocross, 7a Eva #Lechner 🔝👑🌈#Limburg2018 #EurosportCICLISMO | https://t.co/yeuDfSfQxW pic.twitter.com/AGBoAwXRhi
- Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) February 3, 2018
Double gold for Great Britain
The World Championships started today at 11 a.m. with the junior race. The German hope was at the start tom lindner, who was able to secure the German championship title in his class a few weeks ago. Today it shouldn't be enough for first place in an international comparison, but the Saxon was able to present us with a strong performance at the World Cup. The 17-year-old just missed out on a medal with fourth place. In the end, the Dutchman was only four seconds behind Ryan Kamp, the one behind the British world champion Ben Tulett and the Czech Tomas Kopecky came third.
The British fans were also able to celebrate in the women's U23 class. top favourite Evie Richards left absolutely no doubt that she is unbeatable today. The 20-year-old won with a lead of 38 seconds over the Dutchwoman Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and 1:04 minutes ahead of the Austrian Nadja Heigl. Evie Richards thus secured the title for the second time after the 2016 World Championships in Zolder. Nadja Heigl, on the other hand, wrote history for her home country. The bronze medal is the first medal for the Austrian Cycling Association at a world championship in cyclocross.
Evie Richards and Ben Tulett give Great Britain double gold at Cyclocross World Championships | https://t.co/5aiOriNH2U pic.twitter.com/ElEYONA9mz
— Cycling Weekly (@cyclingweekly) February 3, 2018