An attack at the start of the second last lap has netted Belgian National Champion Marion Norbert Riberolle the win in the opening round of the Superprestige series at Ruddervoorde, ahead of lead favourite and World Champion Fem van Empel.
Tenth last year in the same race, the Crelan-Corendon rider attacked a group of eight across the start/finish line, opened up a 12-second advantage with one lap to go and stayed away for the victory.
How it unfolded
Amandine Fouquenet got the early lead on the dry, dusty course, Van Empel moving into seventh place, but then began chasing hard, moving up towards a front group also containing Leonie Bentveld and Mannon Bakker. Bakker was unlucky enough to fall, but Van Empel forged on past her in pursuit of the first leaders on the day.
After two laps, Van Empel had closed in, with Van Alphen and Inge van der Heijden also present in a group with a very narrow lead, then Norbert Riberolle moving across. But the high speed and relatively easy conditions meant it was a very cagy race, with no real attacks going forward in a loose front group of seven as the wait to see what leading favourite Van Empel would – or could – do continued.
After closing down multiple moves, finally on the sandbox section, Van Empel made a more determined attack down the far side of her rivals. With just a handful of seconds at the top of the rise, she maintained the pace, with only Bentveld able to close in initially and Van der Heijden then coming across. Yet again, though, there was a subsequent easing of the pressure on the front, allowing the seven-strong group to reform and even for Alphen to make a quick dig on the planks section.
Norbert…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…