Bosgracht

48:39 Nerea Ortega brings up the rear at 3 minutes. One rider did not make it to the line.

48:25 Marie Steyaert crosses the line 28th, at 2:53.

48:06 Anežka Nováková crosses the line 27th, at 2:34.

46:25 Yara Wauters crosses the line 3rd, at 0:54.

46:15 Kaat Vandenberghe crosses the line 2nd, at 0:43.

45:31 Ilse Delrue wins by 43 seconds.

45:10 The sand in the deep furrow is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

44:00 There is 39 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

42:40 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

42:20 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

40:50 All five are hunting a different line through the mud strip; none of them is finding the good one.

40:20 The slippery descent is drying out on the side the sun is on.

40:10 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

38:30 It is dusting up in the sand pit; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

38:20 Fauve Struyf has to let Eline Tanghe go in the hollow.

36:50 Half the field is running the deep furrow by now.

36:30 Britt Delrue dives past Fauve Struyf in the little bridge.

36:00 Ilse Delrue is out on their own at the front.

35:00 Ride the steep side instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

34:30 Febe Vanhoutte takes the other line through the little bridge and comes out ahead of Fauve Struyf.

33:20 It is getting harder through the little bridge with every lap that goes by.

33:10 The ground in the loose corner in the sand has been ridden rock hard.

33:00 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

31:00 The pits are working flat out.

30:50 The entrance to the sand strip is littered with abandoned bikes.

29:00 They are nearly all taking the same side through the steep side now; the other line is finished.

28:20 There are holes in the line through the off-camber that nobody is riding out any more.

28:10 Get the wet meadow wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

28:00 The sand in the sequence of corners is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

27:40 Carla Vidal goes past Anežka Nováková in the sand pit.

27:30 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

27:10 Dust over the deep furrow — there is no grip left in the corners.

26:30 All five are hunting a different line through the off-camber; none of them is finding the good one.

26:20 In the sand pit Zoë Bogaerts gains a place on Janne Delrue.

26:10 Lucía Vidal had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Marie Steyaert in the sand pit.

25:30 Carla Vidal is too quick for Marie Steyaert in the sand pit and lies 25th now.

25:00 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

24:50 Eline Tanghe is too quick for Britt Delrue in the little bridge and lies 14th now.

24:20 It is dusting up in the slippery descent; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

24:00 Merel Casteels had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Britt Delrue in the loose corner in the sand.

23:50 Robin Steyaert had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Anežka Nováková in the wet meadow.

23:20 Merel Casteels dives past Eline Tanghe in the little bridge.

22:50 There is 7 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

22:20 Janne Delrue takes Merel Casteels back in the off-camber.

22:10 Febe Vanhoutte takes the other line through the little climb at the back and comes out ahead of Aitana Miralles.

21:50 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

21:40 The wet meadow is getting looser with every lap.

21:00 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

20:10 Marie Steyaert has to let Zoë Bogaerts go in the sand strip.

20:00 The wet meadow is drying out on the side the sun is on.

19:50 The gap to the first chaser is 5 seconds.

19:00 Eline Geens had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Merel Casteels in the little climb at the back.

18:50 Robin Verstraete goes past Fauve Struyf in the steps.

18:40 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

18:00 In the mud strip Zoë Bogaerts gains a place on Lucía Vidal.

17:30 The off-camber is tearing itself apart; next lap it will be brutal in there.

17:10 Eline Geens goes past Robin Steyaert in the wet meadow.

16:30 The ground in the deep furrow has been ridden rock hard.

16:00 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

15:40 Robin Verstraete goes past Merel Casteels in the sand pit.

15:10 There are holes in the line through the sand pit that nobody is riding out any more.

14:40 In the second sand pit Zoë Maes gains a place on Sara Verstraete.

14:10 Amber Janssens is too quick for Julie Dhaene in the loose corner in the sand and lies 22nd now.

13:50 Zoë Maes dives past Aitana Miralles in the hairpin.

13:10 The sand in the mud strip is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

12:00 Ilse Delrue has opened a gap and is alone up there.

11:29 Sara Verstraete punctures in the loose corner in the sand and pulls out. Nobody in the pit.

10:50 Get the loose corner in the sand wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

10:20 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

10:10 The line through the sand pit has opened right up.

9:20 Kaat Vandenberghe takes the other line through the sand pit and comes out ahead of Hanne Herteleer.

8:30 Kaat Vandenberghe takes Merel Casteels back in the sand pit.

8:10 Julie Dhaene has to let Kaat Vandenberghe go in the sand pit.

7:40 Ride the hollow instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

7:20 The wet meadow is getting looser with every lap.

7:10 Dust over the sand strip — there is no grip left in the corners.

7:00 There is 9 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

6:50 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

6:20 The gap to the first chaser is 8 seconds.

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

5:50 The entrance to the loose corner in the sand is littered with abandoned bikes.

5:30 The ground in the steps has been ridden rock hard.

5:10 Half the field is running the hurdles by now.

2:20 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

2:00 They are nearly all taking the same side through the sequence of corners now; the other line is finished.

1:50 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

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

1:30 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

0:40 There are holes in the line through the second sand pit that nobody is riding out any more.

0:30 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

0:10 Up front Eline Tanghe goes past Wies Rombouts — 2nd now.

0:00 Bosgracht: dry course, 6 laps. Mostly mud and sand.