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The first World Cup took place in Tabor, Czech Republic.

Mere seconds into the race, a sharp turn caused around a quarter of the riders to crash. Of the affected riders, we saw Eva Lechner (Starcasino CX Team) and Katie Compton. While they didn’t suffer any injuries, paramedics rushed in when they found Sara Casasola (Servetto-Piumate-Beltrami TSA) still laying down minutes after the crash.

Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) took the lead for the first lap of the race and a select few racers trailed behind.

In the second lap, Betsema lost momentum in an unassuming climb and Ceylin Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) took the opportunity to rush in, stealing the first place spot. Betsema eventually regained the spot and the two spent the rest of the lap tussling to lead.

Two U23 champions, Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Fenix) and Kata Blanka Vas (Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team) began to establish themselves in the leading pack as the third lap rolled in.

Lucinda Brand (Telenet Baloise Lions), a rider who hadn’t done anything too flashy up to this point, launched an attack seemingly out of nowhere. In the heat of the moment, Alvarado caused a minor collision. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Brand, however, was not caught and used the slip-up to her advantage, creating a noticeable gap between herself and Alvarado.

While Alvarado was able to keep up with Brand early on, she struggled later as Brand pushed harder, putting her roadie endurance into play. Toward the end of the lap, Brand was able to build a 10-second lead.

Katie Compton, who lost precious time due to the crash in the beginning, was now starting to work her way back up. She moved up to 30th from 40th.

By the fifth lap, Brand had a 19-second advantage over Alvarado.

A minor crash in the second group caused Betsema to get left behind and Annemarie Worst (777) to gain some slight advantage. Fortunately for her, she was able to get back with the group rather quickly.

In the sixth lap, Vas surprised everyone as she began to lead the second group, consisting of herself, Annemarie Worst (777) and Betsema. At that point, they were fighting for third and Vas was trying her best to get rid of the other two.

As the sixth lap came to a finish, it became clear that Brand would be triumphing in Tabor. The crowd cheered as Brand crossed the finish line and took the first world cup.

Alvarado placed second.

The second group showed up to the finish line soon after. Vas’ efforts to ditch the others were short-lived and Betsema outsprinted Vas as the race ended. Worst came in fifth.

As for North Americans, Maghalie Rochette just barely missed the top ten, placing 11th. Katie Compton was left behind due to the crash and placed 31st in the end. Cyclocross Magazine columnist Corey Coogan Cisek placed 48th.

Full results below.

2020-2021 World Cup Tabor Results: Elite Women

RankBIBRiderNationAgeResult
13BRAND LucindaNED310:53:43
21ALVARADO Ceylin del CarmenNED220:54:07
37BETSEMA DeniseNED270:54:15
455VAS Kata BlankaHUN190:54:15
52WORST AnnemarieNED250:54:33
68PIETERSE PuckNED180:55:05
712VERDONSCHOT LauraBEL240:55:14
842ARZUFFI Alice MariaITA260:55:14
948KAY AnnaGBR210:55:28
104KASTELIJN YaraNED230:55:36
1150ROCHETTE MaghalieCAN270:55:38
1210CANT SanneBEL300:55:45
1315FRANCK AliciaBEL260:55:52
1443BARONI FrancescaITA210:55:54
1536GONZALEZ BLANCO LuciaESP300:55:56
1622CLAUZEL PerrineFRA260:56:23
1745REALINI GaiaITA190:56:30
189DE BOER SophieNED300:56:42
195VAN DER HEIJDEN IngeNED210:57:00
2021NORBERT RIBEROLLE MarionFRA210:57:03
2149NELSON JosieGBR180:57:21
2217TRUYEN MartheBEL210:57:39
2311VAN LOY EllenBEL400:57:53
2452BARHOUMI ZinaSUI240:57:56
2513VANDERBEKEN JoyceBEL360:57:56
2641LECHNER EvaITA350:58:13
2724MORICHON AnaïsFRA210:58:16
2823FOUQUENET AmandineFRA190:58:30
2932ŠTĚPÁNOVÁ KarlaCZE290:58:34
3035TVARŮŽKOVÁ TerezaCZE220:58:47
3139COMPTON KatherineUSA420:58:54
3247BULLERI AlessiaITA270:59:19
3328CLAUZEL HélèneFRA220:59:43
3431VANÍČKOVÁ TerezaCZE200:59:49
3516VERHOEVEN SuzanneBEL241:00:07
3619DE WILDE JulieBEL181:00:17
3729GIRAULT LyseFRA201:00:26
3818BROUWERS JulieBEL181:00:45
3930ŠVIHÁLKOVÁ TerezaCZE211:00:55
4051PAUL StefanieGER341:01:03
4134UNGERMANOVÁ ElizabethCZE211:01:13
4237CUETO VEGA SaraESP261:02:00
4353RÜEGG NoemiSUI19
4427DEVIGNE CamilleFRA18
4533MUDŘÍKOVÁ KateřinaCZE24
4654GEOGHEGAN MichelleIRL38
4746PERSICO SilviaITA23
4840COOGAN CISEK CoreyUSA43
14SELS LoesBEL35DNF
6VAN ANROOIJ ShirinNED18DNF
44CASASOLA SaraITA21DNF
25CURINIER LéaFRA19DNS