Marie Schreiber (Team SD Worx-Protime) glided through the slippery mud at Parkcross a mid-week C2 contest in Maldegem and won the penultimate round of the Exact Cross series.
Crelan-Corendon teammates Inge van der Heijden and Sara Casasola rounded out the podium, the Dutch rider 16 seconds back and the Italian another five seconds later.
The drama of the race unfolded well behind the podium finishers when Belgian Jinse Peeters (De Ceuster-Bouwpunt) and Dutchwoman Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) were disqualified after bumping in a corner and hitting each other.
On the sixth of the seven laps, Peeters held the inside position as three riders approached a 90-degree left-hand corner. Bakker moved beside Peeters to make a pass, and the Belgian used her right arm to push Bakker away from close proximity.
The shove caused the Dutch rider to unclip to keep from crashing, with Bakker then slapping Peeters on the shoulder while she tried to regain control, but lost position in the small group.
Peeters thought Bakker had made a dangerous move to impede her process. Race officials reviewed the footage at the end of the race and deemed both riders would be penalised, resulting in DQs.
Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Schreiber celebrated her sixth elite cyclocross victory for the season, including a third Luxembourg national championship in January. In Liévin at the World Championships last weekend she landed on the podium for the first time, earning the silver medal in the U23 division.
"I felt the strongest, it’s nice to finish the season with a victory," said Schreiber, who will now take time off before transitioning in April to the road for SD Worx-Protime.
"The two riders from Corelan-Corendon tried to play the team game to beat me. It was important to stay calm in such a tactical situation. They took turns attacking. But I was not on the limit in their wheel.
"On the penultimate lap, I placed my acceleration and went full out. This was my last race of the season. So I planned to ride myself completely empty and keep going until the finish."
Results
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