Het Kanaal

47:35 Núria Bosch brings up the rear at 80 seconds. Everybody finished.

47:27 Febe Vanhee crosses the line 29th, at 1:11.

47:21 Elke Segers crosses the line 28th, at 1:06.

46:23 Ilse Verstraete crosses the line 3rd, at 0:08.

46:19 Fauve Verbeke crosses the line 2nd, at 0:04.

46:15 Roos Vercammen wins by 4 seconds.

46:15 Roos Vercammen goes past Fauve Verbeke and takes the lead.

46:00 Ride the little bridge instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

45:30 Ilse Verstraete dives past Noémie Marchand in the hurdles.

45:00 A front group of 2, and they are watching each other.

44:30 The entrance to the little bridge is littered with abandoned bikes.

44:10 There are holes in the line through the wide section that nobody is riding out any more.

43:50 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

43:40 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

43:30 It is getting harder through the wet meadow with every lap that goes by.

42:50 Eline Michiels has to let Anežka Králová go in the little bridge.

42:42 Lore Vandenberghe punctures in the sequence of corners, changes bike and loses 20 seconds.

42:40 The slippery descent is getting looser with every lap.

42:30 Jolien Dierckx takes the other line through the sequence of corners and comes out ahead of Eline Michiels.

41:30 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

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

40:20 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

39:20 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

38:03 Fauve Verbeke goes past Roos Vercammen and takes the lead.

38:00 Markéta Benešová is too quick for Coralie Chevalier in the sequence of corners and lies 22nd now.

36:50 Anežka Králová had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Coralie Chevalier in the little bridge.

36:30 Jolien Dierckx has to let Lise Dierckx go in the wet meadow.

36:10 Noémie Marchand goes past Elke Roelants in the slippery descent.

35:30 The little bridge is drying out on the side the sun is on.

35:20 Eline Michiels is too quick for Janne Segers in the finishing straight and lies 13th now.

34:10 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

33:30 Half the field is running the wet meadow by now.

32:50 Janne Segers had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Britt Bogaerts in the second sand pit.

32:20 In the finishing straight Lise Dierckx gains a place on Eline Decock.

31:40 With 4 up front, and Fauve Verbeke on the front of it.

31:30 Femke Coppens takes Roos Vercammen back in the sand strip.

30:30 They are nearly all taking the same side through the slippery descent now; the other line is finished.

30:13 Roos Vercammen goes past Fauve Verbeke and takes the lead.

29:40 Tereza Nováková has to let Jolien Dierckx go in the slippery descent.

29:10 The entrance to the sequence of corners is littered with abandoned bikes.

29:00 A front group of 4, and they are watching each other.

28:30 The ground in the hurdles has been ridden rock hard.

28:20 In the wet meadow Janne Segers gains a place on Tereza Nováková.

27:50 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

26:40 Britt Bogaerts takes the other line through the hairpin and comes out ahead of Tereza Nováková.

26:10 Janne Segers dives past Jolien Wauters in the hairpin.

26:00 Get the off-camber wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

25:20 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

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

24:00 Britt Bogaerts goes past Jolien Wauters in the finishing straight.

23:50 Dust over the hairpin — there is no grip left in the corners.

23:10 The line through the start straight is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

22:50 Febe Vanhee is too quick for Lise Dierckx in the finishing straight and lies 23rd now.

22:20 Océane Barbier had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Coralie Chevalier in the long straight.

21:00 Océane Barbier goes past Janne Segers in the slippery descent.

20:50 Femke Dierckx takes the other line through the hairpin and comes out ahead of Britt Bogaerts.

19:09 Lise Dierckx slides out in the slippery descent and loses 3 seconds.

18:30 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

17:30 The line through the mud strip has opened right up.

17:20 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

17:10 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

16:50 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

16:40 The wet meadow is getting looser with every lap.

15:50 Jolien Wauters takes Emma Dhaene back in the wet meadow.

15:40 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

15:10 Eline Decock has to let Aitana Ortega go in the mud strip.

14:40 The sand in the off-camber is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

14:10 Elke Segers is too quick for Lore Vermeulen in the finishing straight and lies 17th now.

14:00 There are holes in the line through the deep furrow that nobody is riding out any more.

13:40 Roos Vercammen dives past Janne Segers in the hairpin.

13:10 In the off-camber Jolien Wauters gains a place on Femke Roelants.

12:30 It is dusting up in the long straight; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

12:20 Half the field is running the mud strip by now.

12:10 The pits are working flat out.

11:00 Ride the sand pit instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

10:40 The gap to the first chaser is 8 seconds.

10:20 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

9:40 Noémie Marchand had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Ilse Verstraete in the hurdles.

9:30 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

8:50 Dust over the finishing straight — there is no grip left in the corners.

7:21 Fauve Verbeke takes the lead.

7:20 Get the start straight wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

7:10 The line through the little bridge is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

6:50 The entrance to the mud strip is littered with abandoned bikes.

6:20 With 2 up front, and Fauve Verbeke on the front of it.

6:10 The line through the wet meadow has opened right up.

4:00 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

2:40 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

1:30 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

1:10 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

0:30 The sand in the hurdles is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

0:00 Het Kanaal: dry course, 6 laps. Mostly technique and mud.