Het Kanaal

48:01 Nerea Casas brings up the rear at 2 minutes. One rider did not make it to the line.

47:40 Ilse Debruyne crosses the line 28th, at 1:47.

47:37 Nina Struyf crosses the line 27th, at 1:44.

46:09 Puck Michiels crosses the line 3rd, at 0:16.

45:53 Febe Cuypers crosses the line 2nd, at 0:00.

45:53 Janne Coene wins the sprint.

45:50 The ground in the sand strip has been ridden rock hard.

45:20 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

45:00 There are holes in the line through the finishing straight that nobody is riding out any more.

44:50 With 2 up front, and Janne Coene on the front of it.

43:40 In the long straight Núria Iglesias gains a place on Aitana Ferrer.

43:30 Coralie Lefevre takes the other line through the start straight and comes out ahead of Markéta Procházková.

43:10 The line through the slippery descent is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

42:20 It is dusting up in the hairpin; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

42:00 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

41:50 The off-camber is costing a few seconds more every lap.

41:40 The off-camber is getting looser with every lap.

41:20 It is getting harder through the long straight with every lap that goes by.

41:10 Dust over the little bridge — there is no grip left in the corners.

40:50 Coralie Lefevre dives past Aitana Ferrer in the sand pit.

40:30 Ride the mud strip instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

40:10 Febe Cuypers goes past Puck Michiels in the start straight.

39:30 Janne Coene has opened a gap and is alone up there.

39:10 The pits are working flat out.

39:00 They are nearly all taking the same side through the sequence of corners now; the other line is finished.

38:50 The entrance to the hairpin is littered with abandoned bikes.

38:20 The gap to the first chaser is 5 seconds.

38:00 The line through the off-camber has opened right up.

37:51 Janne Coene goes past Manon Bernard and takes the lead.

37:50 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

37:30 Aline Hermans is too quick for Hanne Wauters in the slippery descent and lies 8th now.

36:30 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

36:10 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

36:00 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

34:46 Núria Iglesias slides out in the off-camber and loses 4 seconds.

34:46 Sanne Delrue punctures in the second sand pit, changes bike and loses 9 seconds.

34:30 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

33:30 Hanne Coppens dives past Hanne Wauters in the mud strip.

33:10 The wide section is drying out on the side the sun is on.

32:40 The off-camber is costing a few seconds more every lap.

32:00 Half the field is running the start straight by now.

31:20 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

31:10 The line through the wet meadow is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

30:10 Tine Vandaele had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Coralie Lefevre in the wet meadow.

30:07 Manon Bernard goes past Janne Coene and takes the lead.

30:00 All five are hunting a different line through the hurdles; none of them is finding the good one.

29:40 There are holes in the line through the mud strip that nobody is riding out any more.

29:30 Janne Coene has to let Manon Bernard go in the wet meadow.

28:50 Aline Dhaene has to let Aline Hermans go in the finishing straight.

28:30 Aline Hermans takes the other line through the mud strip and comes out ahead of Eline Vranken.

28:20 It is dusting up in the hairpin; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

27:30 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

27:07 Nerea Casas goes down hard in the mud strip, loses 44 seconds and rides on battered.

27:00 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

26:30 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

26:10 Manon Bernard goes past Puck Michiels in the hairpin.

25:30 A front group of 3, and they are watching each other.

25:10 Dust over the sequence of corners — there is no grip left in the corners.

25:00 The off-camber is getting looser with every lap.

24:20 The pits are working flat out.

23:30 The gap to the first chaser is 4 seconds.

23:10 Aline Hermans takes Markéta Procházková back in the mud strip.

22:50 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

22:20 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

22:20 Janne Coene goes past Hanne Coppens and takes the lead.

21:30 Hanne Wauters goes past Hanne Coppens in the mud strip.

21:00 The hurdles is drying out on the side the sun is on.

20:40 They are nearly all taking the same side through the sequence of corners now; the other line is finished.

19:50 Manon Bernard had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Hanne Coppens in the hairpin.

19:20 There are holes in the line through the hairpin that nobody is riding out any more.

19:10 Get the finishing straight wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

18:40 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

17:40 Up front Janne Coene goes past Hanne Coppens — 1st now.

17:20 Hanne Wauters has to let Febe Cuypers go in the deep furrow.

16:20 Aline Dhaene dives past Markéta Procházková in the sequence of corners.

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

15:20 Half the field is running the off-camber by now.

14:30 The sand in the wide section is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

14:20 Aline Dhaene is too quick for Aitana Ferrer in the hairpin and lies 15th now.

14:10 In the hairpin Océane Rousseau gains a place on Tine Vandaele.

14:00 Markéta Procházková has to let Puck Vanhoutte go in the sand strip.

13:20 Océane Rousseau dives past Elke Rombouts in the sequence of corners.

13:10 Hanne Coppens is out on their own at the front.

12:30 Janne Coene had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Ilse Vanwalleghem in the pit.

12:10 Océane Rousseau takes Ilse Peeters back in the deep furrow.

11:50 Océane Rousseau takes the other line through the start straight and comes out ahead of Élise Marchand.

11:22 Élise Marchand punctures in the off-camber, changes bike and loses 8 seconds.

10:40 The line through the little bridge is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

10:20 Markéta Procházková goes past Ilse Debruyne in the hurdles.

9:40 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

8:20 Roos Deschepper has to let Nerea Casas go in the hairpin.

7:21 Hanne Coppens takes the lead.

7:00 The ground in the hairpin has been ridden rock hard.

6:40 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

6:30 The line through the hairpin has opened right up.

5:40 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

5:20 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

5:10 There is 5 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

3:46 Zoë Demeyer punctures in the mud strip and pulls out. No spare bike.

3:40 The pits are working flat out.

3:10 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

3:00 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

2:20 All five are hunting a different line through the loose corner in the sand; none of them is finding the good one.

2:10 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

1:50 The gap to the first chaser is 4 seconds.

1:30 The sand in the sequence of corners is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

1:10 Nothing has split at the front yet; Hanne Coppens is leading it.

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