Blanka Vas takes second place on her return to Cyclocross in Heusden-Zolder:

Blanka Vas made a strong comeback to cyclocross. The 24-year-old Hungarian was in contention for the win almost the whole cross. After Fouquenet broke away & won solo, Vas sprinted to second place. “It turned out to be the right decision to step out of competition for a while and work on my training base. I’m happy with this feeling.”

Blanka Vas: “My preparation for the cyclocross season wasn’t ideal. After my wedding, I went through a difficult period on a sporting level, with the Koppenbergcross as the low point. That’s when it became clear that my training base wasn’t sufficient. Together with the team and cyclocross coach Sanne Cant, we decided to skip a few races and prepare better. Now I’m super happy we made that decision. It’s great that I can finish second right away on my return.”

“It was a fast race where positioning was crucial. That’s why it got intense at times, like the battle for that one corner. Nobody wanted to brake, and it was a normal fight heading into the turn. That was a race incident. Just like when Amandine Fouquenet rode away. I was on my limit too. Anniek Van Alphen took over but suddenly stopped pushing. That was a moment of hesitation, also for me. It's part of racing. I’ll take this second place as a motivation boost heading into Gavere,” said Vas.

Cyclocross Coach Sanne Cant: “Heusden-Zolder offered a course that really suited Blanka Vas and Marie Schreiber. That was helpful, but because it was so dry, you couldn’t really make a difference anywhere. As a result, it stayed closed and became a tactical chess game. Marie was hanging on all race long but felt better than last weekend, and that’s positive.”

“Blanka rode a great race, although she let herself get outsmarted tactically in the final lap. What happened there? The finish is slightly uphill, and the wind was head-on. Perhaps everyone was afraid to close the gap to Fouquenet and effectively do a lead-out for the others by doing so, and thus risking a counterattack. Whereas if they had rotated as a group of three, everyone would still have had a chance to win.”

“This gives us hope for the future. The cyclocross winter will be intense. It was the right choice to ease off with Blanka for a while. Gavere on Friday offers a course that suits her and one she’s really looking forward to. Thanks to today’s performance, she’ll be even more motivated. She probably won’t have the best starting position, but if she can prepare mentally for that, she’ll fight her way into the race,” said Sanne Cant.