Kasteelcross

40:09 Lise Maes brings up the rear at 3 minutes. Everybody finished.

39:17 Febe Vermeulen crosses the line 32nd, at 1:50.

39:17 Kaat Geens crosses the line 31st, at 1:50.

37:35 Roos Hermans crosses the line 3rd, at 0:08.

37:29 Anke Herteleer crosses the line 2nd, at 0:02.

37:27 Elke Claes wins by 2 seconds.

37:20 The pit is drying out on the side the sun is on.

35:40 Lotte Bogaerts has to let Fauve Janssens go in the wide section.

35:20 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

34:30 With 2 up front, and Elke Claes on the front of it.

34:20 There are holes in the line through the mud strip that nobody is riding out any more.

34:00 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

32:40 The little bridge is getting looser with every lap.

32:00 Marthe Maertens goes past Lore Deschepper in the hurdles.

30:30 The line through the slippery descent is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

30:10 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

29:30 There is 6 seconds on the clock behind the leaders.

28:30 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

27:40 The sand in the sequence of corners is loose and deep — that is where the hour will be decided.

27:30 Dry and dusty, and by the end you cannot tell who is who.

27:20 The line through the off-camber has opened right up.

25:50 The entrance to the slippery descent is littered with abandoned bikes.

25:40 In the wet meadow Roos Verbeke gains a place on Lieze Peeters.

25:00 It is getting harder through the slippery descent with every lap that goes by.

24:50 A front group of 2, and they are watching each other.

23:40 Marthe Dierckx is too quick for Aline Herteleer in the finishing straight and lies 27th now.

23:30 Ilse Coppens had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Sanne Debruyne in the slippery descent.

22:20 The sequence of corners is drying out on the side the sun is on.

22:00 Maaike Roelants has to let Sanne Debruyne go in the finishing straight.

21:10 Hardly a bike change all day — there is nothing to wash off.

21:00 Yara Janssens had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Eline Vandenberghe in the finishing straight.

20:10 Femke Verlinden takes the other line through the hurdles and comes out ahead of Fauve Janssens.

19:50 Dust over the sequence of corners — there is no grip left in the corners.

19:20 It is dusting up in the deep furrow; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

19:00 Hardly anybody is getting off today, and that makes it an hour with no rest in it.

18:30 Fien Steyaert dives past Merel Cuypers in the wide section.

18:20 Dry and fast, and that makes it a long hour.

18:00 There are holes in the line through the hairpin that nobody is riding out any more.

17:10 The front group is riding on sight, not on line; it all looks the same out there.

16:50 Anke Herteleer moves up to 3rd at Emma Maes's expense.

16:40 Femke Verlinden had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Marthe Dierckx in the slippery descent.

16:20 Ride the hairpin instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

16:00 Marthe Maertens has to let Puck Ceulemans go in the deep furrow.

15:30 Tine Nuyts takes Marie Vanhee back in the off-camber.

15:20 The course is hard underneath; this is a day for anyone who can keep the power on.

15:00 Sanne Debruyne goes past Aline Herteleer in the off-camber.

13:50 In the deep furrow Merel Cuypers gains a place on Tine Nuyts.

13:10 Get the little bridge wrong and you are standing still — and it is happening more and more.

13:00 Roos Hermans had been sitting on the wheel a while and goes past Anke Herteleer in the deep furrow.

12:30 The entrance to the deep furrow is littered with abandoned bikes.

12:20 Tyre pressure is half the race today, and nobody is saying so.

11:18 Aline Herteleer punctures in the mud strip, changes bike and loses 8 seconds.

11:11 Femke Verlinden punctures in the steps, changes bike and loses 13 seconds.

10:50 Robin Beyens is too quick for Aline Herteleer in the little bridge and lies 19th now.

10:30 Up front Emma Maes goes past Noor Vermeulen — 3rd now.

10:20 The slippery descent is tearing itself apart; next lap it will be brutal in there.

10:00 Robin Beyens dives past Ilse Coppens in the start straight.

8:40 Dust over the hurdles — there is no grip left in the corners.

8:20 The steps is drying out on the side the sun is on.

8:00 Roos Verbeke takes the other line through the deep furrow and comes out ahead of Eline Vandenberghe.

7:50 It is getting harder through the steep side with every lap that goes by.

7:40 The gap to the first chaser is 9 seconds.

5:30 All five are hunting a different line through the finishing straight; none of them is finding the good one.

4:40 The lines are fixed on a course this dry; they are all riding the same rut.

4:30 Half the field is running the sequence of corners by now.

4:20 Elke Claes is out on their own at the front.

4:00 The pits are working flat out.

3:50 The line through the sequence of corners is shifting; they are riding a metre off where they were a moment ago.

3:20 On a dry course there is little to win in the corners; it has to come from the legs.

3:10 It is dusting up in the mud strip; anyone at the back is riding in a cloud.

2:50 The ground in the mud strip has been ridden rock hard.

2:40 There are 2 of them at the front.

2:20 A day for racing on the pedals; there is nothing to slide away.

2:10 The entrance to the sequence of corners is littered with abandoned bikes.

1:20 Ride the wet meadow instead of running it and you take half a second out of the rest every lap.

0:50 The little bridge is getting looser with every lap.

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