This Saturday, Shana Maes, Marie Schreiber and Zoe Backstedt, the women of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team, crossed paths for the first time in a race this season on the occasion of the Superprestige in Boom. With Quinten Hermans, Thomas Mein, Théo Thomas, Corné Van Kessel, Emiel Verstrynge and Joran Wyseure at the start in the men’s race, almost the complete team showed its abilities on the venue of Tomorrowland.
The bowl in Boom was filled with rain during the whole day, and especially the women had to defy the wet weather circumstances from 13h45 to 14h30. But the 17 year old Backstedt, 18 year old Schreiber and 26 year old Maes didn’t care, the trio started very well. Backstedt battled with the best riders in the world and finished 9th. Schreiber followed a little further and eventually missed a top 15 because of a crash in the final lap. Shana Maes rode a second UCI race in a row in Boom and was classified in 49th place.
Also the men elite appreciated the many long climbs and challenging descents. It was Corné Van Kessel who led the pack in the first lap, followed by Quinten Hermans. But Wout Van Aert didn’t wait long to demonstrate his class in his return to cyclocross and steadily increased a gap on nine chasers. Van Kessel and Hermans, who just got back from a training camp in Spain, were part of this battle for the remaining podium spots until the final lap. Both didn’t have a great day on the bike and crossed the line in 10th and 13th place respectively. In contrary, Joran Wyseure performed with excellence. After spending a big part of the race with Emiel Verstrynge, the rider from West-Flanders finished very strong and reached the slipstream of Quinten Hermans with the finish in sight. Verstrynge crossed the line in 18th place, ahead of Thomas Mein (21st), who returned to racing after a period of illness.
Next Monday, five men will join Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert in Spain for a training camp to prepare the busy Christmas period.
« Today’s performance wiped out all doubts! After the disappointing race in Koksijde I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to continue my good performances of the European Championships and the World Cup in Tabor. But the top 20 in Besançon and today’s result confirmed that I’m doing great. I was really happy with my start today and managed to stay in this position pretty well. The parcours suited me, because I love hard circuits. During the recon I was immediately impressed by this venue! The rainfall made the mud less slippery and less resistant, however, the race remained very challenging! This was definitely one of my better days of the season, so I return home happy! »
