"A super fun battle" - Manon Bakker enjoys herself in Gullegem with second placed finish

On a challenging day at a brutally muddy Gullegem course, Crelan-Corendon's Manon Bakker looked good, eventually coming home in second place. After the race, she revealed she had thoroughly enjoyed the action.

“It was tough, but also a super fun battle with Zoe Backstedt and Inge van der Heijden,” said Bakker in her post-race interview. “At the beginning, I thought: I really like the last part. I tried there too, but Zoe is so strong. She drove away from us on the asphalt. I actually hoped that Inge would close the gap on the straight because I know she is a little better at that. But we couldn't get to it anymore. I think she is the deserved winner.”

Eventually finishing just over 30 seconds behind Backstedt, Bakker and her teammate were left to battle it out for second spot. “I was actually a bit too slow to react. I really should have known, because Zoe does it all the time. I often call it the 'Zoe attack', destroying everyone on the straights of the road. I was too late. I gambled on Inge, but it didn't work," Bakker reflects.

"Then I made a mistake myself, which made it even more exciting for second place. But luckily I was better in the end," she concludes. "When I made that mistake, I thought shit for a moment. I rode into the barriers there, because you had to drive close to the edge. I thought: oh, here I go… Then Inge overtook me. I actually wanted to be in the lead on the last bit, but on the bridge down I was able to overtake her again.”