Luxembourg champion Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) sprinted to victory in the Exact Cross Maldegem, piling on the pressure in the final laps to win a tight four-way battle.
European champion Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) finished second, whilst Amandine Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) completed the podium in third in Belgium.
The fourth member of the leading quarter, Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw), crashed in the sand in sight of the finish line, cracking under the pressure exerted by Schreiber and settling for fourth.
After Schreiber started strong straight out of the gate, a group of four leaders emerged in the middle of the race, and a tense four-way battle played out over the final few laps.
With the duo of Fouquenet and Bentveld, Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw put the pressure on for much of the second half, and looked to be in the best position, but ultimately would come away with only the last spot on the podium.
Schreiber pushed the pace for the final two laps of the race, and despite leading from the front and doing much of the work, she was able to hold her position all the way to the line and win this event for the second year running.
"I'm really happy with the win. I won here last year, so I had a bit of pressure," she said at the finish. "I knew it was a course that I liked, it was quite fast, so it was really hard to make a difference, and in the middle of the race I was a little bit behind, but I was trying to do it smooth because I knew you can get a little bit stuck in the sand.
"I was trying to keep my energy for the end, and I think I did really well. Then it was just basically a full-gas sprint towards the sand, and I knew if I was first in the sand and I didn't make a mistake, then I would win."
The Exact Cross series – which does not have an overall series leader – concludes on February 14 with the final round at Sint-Niklaas – Waaslandcross.
Results
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