A cycling race in Belgium was thrown into disarray when the leader of the women’s race, which set off 10 minutes after the men’s, almost caught up with her male counterparts and found herself in danger of being impeded by their support vehicles.
The Swiss cyclist Nicole Hanselmann of the Bigla Pro team surged into an early lead of almost two minutes in the annual Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race around the Flemish Ardennes, but her solo breakaway was cut short by a hasty request that she stop at the side of the road as the event organisers neutralised the women’s race in order to restore the gap between the two groups.
After being allowed to resume, Hanselmann was given a headstart on the peloton but was quickly reeled in and eventually finished in 74th place.
“It was a bit sad for me because I was in a good mood and when the bunch sees you stopping, they just get a new motivation to catch you,” she told Cyclingnews. “We could just see the ambulances of the men’s race. I think we stopped for five or seven minutes and then it just kills your chances.”
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The race was won by Chantal Blaak, a Dutch cyclist for Boels-Dolmans. Hanselmann described the stoppage as an “awkward moment” in an Instagram post after the race. “Maybe the other women and me were too fast or the men too slow.”
