Manon Bakker settles for third place in the muddy Azencross: "I was definitely hoping for more"

Manon Bakker was visibly disappointed after her third place in the Azencross in Loenhout. The 24-year-old Dutch woman was the top favorite at the start in Antwerp, but ultimately had to acknowledge her superiors in her teammate, the Belgian champion Sanne Cant and the Czech Kristyna Zemanova.

"I obviously expected more in advance," Bakker said in the flash interview. "I can't say I'm very satisfied with this and was definitely hoping for more."

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"Usually I'm not great on the first of two cross days and that turned out to be the case again today. Cant had more power in the deep mud strips and I also think I was in the lead too much in the first two laps, because I thought I could go even faster, but in the end Sanne could go even faster."

"I mainly wanted to be at the front on the technical sections, but that didn't provide much advantage, because you had to walk more on those sections. At one point I dropped the pace and at that moment Sanne attacked and then it was already too late because I had to change. After that the gap was immediately there," she concludes.

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PREVIEW | Cyclocross Hulst 2023 World Cup Men&Women - Favourites, Track, TV Guide & Poll