The lap of 10,3 km was to cover nine times and a hell lot of wind promised a very hard race in a bunch of around 80 riders.

Marc had instruced Corinne and I to stay in the front of the bunch right from the start on and to try to get into a split group. Which is actually exactly what we did; after three kilometers already, the first attack went and a group of ten riders (including Corinne and myself) got a small advantage on the bunch.

With a lot of hard work and communication, we managed to increase this advance constantly. At the end of the first lap, the french rider Fiona Dutriaux from the team Vienne Futuroscope couldn’t follow anymore and she dropped out, leaving a group of nine riders in front.

We worked steadily so that two laps before the finish our group was the only one left in the race! All the others had lost over 3minutes and were taken out. We worked until the last two or three kilometers, some tried their luck and attacked but it was never successful due to extreme front wind.

The race was won by Martine Bras (Menekini) in sprint, Lisbeth de Vocht (new champion of the province of Antwerp / DSB-Bank) finished second. Corinne finished sixth and I did 7th place. I’m very happy with the result, this proved me that I’m still capable of doing a good performance in races.

See you in Bern

Suzie