Aniek Van Alphen goes solo to win Exact Cross Essen

Aniek Van Alphen (777) in action (Image credit: Getty Images)

Aniek Van Alphen (777) used her bike skills to bunny hop the barriers and then surge away from her rival to win the Exact Cross Essen race near Antwerp.

With many of the biggest women on their way to Ireland for Sunday’s Dublin World Cup, Van Alphen took advantage, confirmed her success in last week’s Superprestige Boom race and impressed on the fast course despite the freezing temperatures of Belgium in mid-December.

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.