Marion Norbert Riberolle and Aniek van Alphen on brutal muddy Essen course: "It wasn't as tough in the reconnaissance as in the race"

Essen provided the dose of racing in the Benelux this weekend in cyclocross and the women's race saw a fierce battle between Marion Norbert Riberolle and Aniek van Alphen. The Belgian managed to take a nowadays rare win for the nation in the women's field.

"It was very difficult today and Aniek [van Alphen] was not easy to beat. For a long time I thought: who is going to win here? At some point I saw my moment and tried it," Riberolle said in a post-race interview. “It wasn't as tough in the reconnaissance as in the race. It was very difficult today. I didn't want to sprint here and thought it was better to get a lead first."

The brutal conditions made it a race of attrition, but Riberolle in the end was the strongest and managed to win with a small gap over her rival on the day. The two were far above the rest of the competition on the day, but that ultimately led to a disappointment from van Alphen who came here, instead of taking the week off to rest or train as many of her rivals.

Van Alphen, disappointed with the second place, shared her thoughts following the difficult hour of racing: “I don't think so, otherwise I would have won. I'm not very happy, because I wanted to win. But Marion was super strong, she deserved it. She has already shown a lot of good things this season. This is also due to the weather, because these courses suit her more.”