Het Kanaal

39:50 Markéta Nováková brings up the rear at 2 minutes. Everybody finished.

39:41 Océane Fontaine crosses the line 29th, at 1:23.

39:38 Febe Willems crosses the line 28th, at 1:20.

38:40 Janne Wauters crosses the line 3rd, at 0:21.

38:24 Justine Renaud crosses the line 2nd, at 0:06.

38:18 Emma Vandevelde wins by 6 seconds.

38:18 Emma Vandevelde goes past Justine Renaud and takes the lead.

37:40 Febe Bogaerts goes past Femke Desmet in the off-camber.

37:30 Lena Geens is too quick for Justine Girard in the slippery descent and lies 12th now.

37:10 Nina Dierckx takes Élise Rousseau back in the deep furrow.

35:30 The second sand pit is getting looser with every lap.

35:10 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

35:00 There is 5 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

34:50 Britt Vandevelde takes the other line through the hairpin and comes out ahead of Lena Roelants.

34:20 Half the field is running the second sand pit by now.

34:00 The line through the pit is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

33:30 Coralie Bernard had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Camille Fontaine in the sequence of corners.

32:30 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

31:40 Emma Geens has to let Élise Renaud go in the little bridge.

31:20 The sequence of corners is drying out on the side the sun is on.

30:50 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

30:00 Eline De Clercq takes the other line through the hurdles and comes out ahead of Nina Dierckx.

29:40 Camille Fontaine had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Coralie Bernard in the off-camber.

28:40 Up front Janne Wauters goes past Marthe Beyens — 3rd now.

28:30 The sand in the finishing straight is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

28:10 In the deep furrow Lena Geens gains a place on Aline Vanwalleghem.

28:00 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

26:52 Coralie Bernard slides out in the long straight and loses 10 seconds.

26:30 Ride the hairpin instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

26:20 Janne Wauters goes past Justine Girard in the sequence of corners.

25:10 Élise Renaud dives past Manon Barbier in the hurdles.

25:00 Lena Geens takes Manon Barbier back in the hurdles.

24:20 The pits are working flat out.

23:50 Nore Vanhee has to let Élise Renaud go in the sand strip.

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

22:10 They are nearly all taking the same side through the pit now; the other line is finished.

22:00 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

21:40 Élise Rousseau is too quick for Merel Truyens in the start straight and lies 4th now.

21:00 The hairpin is tearing itself apart; next lap it will be brutal in there.

20:20 Half the field is running the hairpin by now.

19:30 Élise Rousseau is too quick for Lena Roelants in the slippery descent and lies 6th now.

18:50 Camille Fontaine is too quick for Océane Fontaine in the wide section and lies 26th now.

18:20 Justine Renaud has opened a gap and is alone up there.

18:00 Kateřina Černá dives past Janne Wauters in the sequence of corners.

17:50 The gap to the first chaser is 12 seconds.

17:40 Justine Renaud is out on their own at the front.

17:30 Justine Girard had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Kateřina Černá in the mud strip.

17:20 The line through the hairpin is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

16:40 Nore Vanhee takes the other line through the finishing straight and comes out ahead of Febe Willems.

16:10 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

15:00 Élise Renaud goes past Tine Brouwers in the off-camber.

13:50 The ground in the mud strip has been ridden rock hard.

13:30 There is 9 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

12:50 Lena Geens takes Febe Willems back in the start straight.

12:30 In the little bridge Femke Desmet gains a place on Aline Delrue.

12:20 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

10:50 All five are hunting a different line through the loose corner in the sand; none of them is finding the good one.

10:30 Elke Decock has to let Coralie Bernard go in the sand strip.

10:20 The pit is costing a few seconds more every lap.

9:30 Dust over the wide section — there is no grip left in the corners.

9:10 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

8:30 Emma Vandevelde is too quick for Kateřina Černá in the loose corner in the sand and lies 10th now.

8:10 Up front Merel Truyens goes past Nina Dierckx — 3rd now.

7:40 Half the field is running the mud strip by now.

7:30 The sand in the long straight is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

7:23 Justine Renaud takes the lead.

7:20 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

7:10 The long straight is drying out on the side the sun is on.

7:00 The entrance to the sequence of corners is littered with abandoned bikes.

6:00 Ride the wet meadow instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

5:40 The slippery descent is getting looser with every lap.

5:20 There are 2 of them at the front.

5:10 It is dusting up in the wide section; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

4:50 The line through the sequence of corners has opened right up.

4:30 The sequence of corners is tearing itself apart; next lap it will be brutal in there.

4:10 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

3:50 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

3:30 It is getting harder through the deep furrow with every lap that goes by.

3:10 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

2:50 There are holes in the line through the mud strip that nobody is riding out any more.

2:00 All five are hunting a different line through the sequence of corners; none of them is finding the good one.

1:50 The field is still all together at the front.

0:50 The little bridge is costing a few seconds more every lap.

0:40 Nothing has split at the front yet; Justine Renaud is leading it.

0:00 Het Kanaal: dry course, 5 laps. Mostly technique and mud.