Inge van der Heijden from Schaijk became European cyclo-cross champion for the first time on Saturday. The 26-year-old cyclist crossed the finish line solo after six laps in Middelkerke, Belgium. Aniek van Alphen from Hapert came third, just behind compatriot Lucinda Brand. “It’s a bit unreal,” Van der Heijden said afterwards.
Van der Heijden immediately took the lead at the start. At the end of the first lap she had a 21 second lead and that did not decrease. After completing the six laps, Brand finished second. She was 41 seconds behind. Another fifteen seconds later, Van Alphen finished.
Van der Heijden is the eighth Dutch European champion in a row. She is the successor to Fem van Empel from Den Dungen, who had won the title the last three times. Van Empel resigned last week. After illness she was not yet fully fit.
“It’s fantastic that I now have the title, I had never won this before,” Van der Heijden responded to Sporza afterwards. “I actually didn’t expect this, but it turned out well. I wanted to drive away fast from the start, that’s what I focused on and then the intention was to maintain and expand that lead. When I was more than forty seconds ahead with two laps to go, I thought the title was coming very close.”
Yet Brand and Van Alphen managed to reduce the deficit to fifteen seconds in both laps. But that was also a tactic, Van der Heijden explained. “I often let myself fall back and then create a gap at the right time.”
De Schaijkse, who already won the world title among the promises, is called a ‘sand monster’. She more than lived up to that reputation. From start to finish. “I do well on sandy courses, but you can also get stuck there.” Van der Heijden was spared that, so she crossed the line as the winner with tears in her eyes, but above all convincingly after more than 50 minutes. “Really, I’m very happy. This means a lot to me.”