Bosgracht

40:15 Yara Vandaele brings up the rear at 2 minutes. One rider did not make it to the line.

40:14 Roos Brouwers crosses the line 28th, at 1:32.

40:07 Aline Willems crosses the line 27th, at 1:26.

38:51 Justine Chevalier crosses the line 3rd, at 0:10.

38:48 Nina Vandaele crosses the line 2nd, at 0:07.

38:41 Eliška Dvořáková wins by 7 seconds.

38:40 They are nearly all taking the same side through the hollow now; the other line is finished.

38:10 It is dusting up in the mud strip; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

37:40 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

37:30 The line through the off-camber has opened right up.

37:00 Lise Coppens takes the other line through the little climb at the back and comes out ahead of Roos Verstraete.

36:50 Marie Desmet has to let Veerle Demeyer go in the sand pit.

36:20 The second sand pit is getting looser with every lap.

35:45 Camille Barbier punctures in the steps, changes bike and loses 20 seconds.

35:10 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

34:20 It is getting harder through the hairpin with every lap that goes by.

34:00 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

33:50 There are 3 of them at the front.

33:40 Eliška Dvořáková goes past Justine Chevalier and takes the lead.

33:30 The mud strip is costing a few seconds more every lap.

32:40 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

32:10 Ride the loose corner in the sand instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

31:50 Lise Coppens had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Camille Barbier in the hairpin.

31:40 The sand in the second sand pit is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

31:30 Eliška Dvořáková is too quick for Julie Coppens in the hurdles and lies 2nd now.

31:00 There are holes in the line through the sequence of corners that nobody is riding out any more.

30:30 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

30:20 The entrance to the hollow is littered with abandoned bikes.

30:10 The line through the loose corner in the sand is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

29:10 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

28:30 Half the field is running the slippery descent by now.

28:00 Justine Chevalier goes past Nina Vandaele and takes the lead.

27:00 A front group of 2, and they are watching each other.

25:50 The gap to the first chaser is 5 seconds.

25:20 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

25:00 All five are hunting a different line through the hairpin; none of them is finding the good one.

24:40 Emma Coppens takes the other line through the sequence of corners and comes out ahead of Marthe Bruggeman.

24:30 Justine Chevalier dives past Nina Bruggeman in the hairpin.

24:00 Up front Justine Chevalier goes past Wies Baeten — 3rd now.

23:30 Noor Tanghe takes Yara Vandaele back in the little bridge.

23:10 The line through the little bridge has opened right up.

23:00 The mud strip is drying out on the side the sun is on.

22:10 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

21:30 In the loose corner in the sand Anežka Benešová gains a place on Justine Chevalier.

20:40 Wies Baeten goes past Justine Chevalier in the sand strip.

20:20 Nina Vandaele is out on their own at the front.

19:50 There are 2 of them at the front.

19:30 Maaike Vermeulen takes the other line through the wet meadow and comes out ahead of Marthe Bruggeman.

19:00 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

18:54 Wies Peeters punctures in the mud strip and pulls out. Nobody in the pit.

18:40 The steep side is getting looser with every lap.

18:20 There is 5 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

18:00 Anke Vandenberghe had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Sara Claes in the sand pit.

17:50 The pits are working flat out.

17:40 It is dusting up in the steps; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

17:10 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

16:45 Nina Vandaele goes past Wies Peeters and takes the lead.

16:30 Wies Baeten takes Eliška Dvořáková back in the little bridge.

16:10 There are holes in the line through the sand strip that nobody is riding out any more.

15:10 The sand in the loose corner in the sand is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

15:00 Nina Vandaele has to let Justine Chevalier go in the wet meadow.

14:40 All five are hunting a different line through the steps; none of them is finding the good one.

14:30 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

14:20 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

13:30 In the little bridge Wies Baeten gains a place on Julie Coppens.

13:00 Wies Peeters goes past Nina Vandaele and takes the lead.

12:40 Justine Chevalier is too quick for Nina Bruggeman in the hairpin and lies 3rd now.

11:10 Justine Chevalier had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Eliška Dvořáková in the loose corner in the sand.

10:40 Justine Chevalier goes past Ainhoa Bosch in the little bridge.

10:30 Nothing has split at the front yet; Nina Vandaele is leading it.

9:50 The ground in the slippery descent has been ridden rock hard.

9:40 The steps is tearing itself apart; next lap it will be brutal in there.

9:30 There are 8 of them at the front.

8:50 Anke Vandenberghe takes the other line through the sand strip and comes out ahead of Noor Tanghe.

8:35 Nina Vandaele goes past Nina Bruggeman and takes the lead.

8:00 The off-camber is costing a few seconds more every lap.

7:50 Nina Bruggeman moves up to 1st at Ainhoa Bosch's expense.

7:50 Nina Bruggeman goes past Ainhoa Bosch and takes the lead.

7:30 A front group of 7, and they are watching each other.

6:10 The line through the deep furrow is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

4:50 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

4:40 The gap to the first chaser is 4 seconds.

2:10 Get the slippery descent wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

2:00 They are nearly all taking the same side through the deep furrow now; the other line is finished.

1:50 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

1:40 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

1:20 Half the field is running the steps by now.

0:40 They are still riding as one big group, and nobody is pulling.

0:05 Ainhoa Bosch goes past Eliška Dvořáková and takes the lead.

0:00 Bosgracht: dry course, 5 laps. Mostly mud and sand.