Belgian Cyclo-cross National Championships: Marion Norbert Riberolle defends elite women’s title with dominant solo win

Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Corendon) defended her title on the Belgian Cyclo-cross Nationwide Championships on Saturday, conquering the chilly and snow to win the elite ladies’s race for a second 12 months in a row.

Norbert Riberolle led solo for greater than half of the five-lap race in Beringen, after early chief Fleur Moors (Baloise-Glowi Lions) crashed on a muddy nook, making manner for the 2025 champion to maneuver into the lead.

Regardless of initially being solely 4 seconds behind, Moors could not shut the hole to Norbert Riberolle, settling for second and the silver medal, 17 seconds down on the end line. Privateer racer Kiona Crabbé took third.

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Norbert Riberolle’s title defence meant that solely two riders have worn the ladies’s Belgian tri-colour jersey in a decade and half, with the now-retired Sanne Cant successful 15 occasions in a row between 2010 and 2024.

This was Norbert Riberolle’s second victory of the ‚cross season, after taking victory on the Superprestige Ruddervoorde in October.

The ladies’s race set off in sub-zero temperatures in Beringen, with snow and ice protecting the course and freezing a whole lot of the mud to make for some difficult racing circumstances.

Fleur Moors began properly, pushing on early and main the primary lap forward of Marion Norbert Riberolle, however crashed on an off-camber nook on the second lap, dropping her lead. Norbert Riberolle unclipped as she tried to keep away from Moors, however bought going quicker to take the lead.

The hole was initially solely a handful of seconds, however Norbert Riberolle charged forward on the third lap to cement her benefit, which she held on till the tip of the race to defend her Belgian jersey.

Earlier within the day, Liese Geuens received the junior ladies’s title, with the competitors persevering with on Sunday the place the under-23 and elite males’s titles will likely be determined.

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