Cyclo-Cross World Cup: Manon Bakker wins in Val di Sole

Manon Bakker (Crelan - Corendon) took her maiden World Cup win in the snow of Val di Sole.

She rode a calm and calculated race that saw her sit in the top three until the final lap. At that point she made her move to win in style 23 seconds ahead of Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin–Deceuninck) in second place.

Conditions were tougher than usual for this snowy cyclo-cross race.

Although the race is best known for taking place within the snowy vistas of the Trentino area of northern Italy this year saw fresh snow on course. With the temperature hovering around zero degrees the riders had to compete not only with a fresh dump of snow but also continuously changing conditions that led to an incredibly demanding course that had many riders running for large sections.

A strong start from Kristýna Zemanová (Brilon Racing Team MB) saw her pull out an early lead, but she was quickly reeled in and joined by Alvarado. By the conclusion of the first lap, a trio had formed with Manon Bakker joining the other two up front.

• Read more: Preview: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Val di Sole

Defending champion Puck Pieterse (Alpecin–Deceuninck) made a move as the race entered the second lap to close the gap between to the three up front.

However, this coincided with Alvarado pressing on and opening up a gap to the other two riders. A mistake on one of the steep banks saw her lose her footing and she was rejoined by Bakker and Zemanová. Even after this mistake, by the close of the second lap, Alvarado had re-opened up a gap of 15 seconds over Bakker, 38 seconds ahead of Zemanová and Pieterse on her tail.

As the race entered the final lap, Bakker put an attack in and moved into the race lead pushing Alvarado into second. As the final lap developed the calculated riding of Bakker helped her advantage grow as Alvadro began to suffer in the testing conditions.

A couple of errors saw Bakker pull out an advantage that would ultimately stand the test of time. She crossed the line to take her maid World Cup Cyclo-Cross victory 23 seconds ahead of Alvardo in second with Pieterse rounding out the podium.