Under tough conditions, Rozanne Slik finished third yesterday in Willingen in the 120 kilometer long mountain bike marathon. “I deliberately chose my own pace from the start in the first 54km loop and let the later winner Katrin Schwing go because I knew it was going to be a long tough race. In the second loop of 35 kilometers the Belgian Sara Michielsens joined me. The last closing loop of 31 kilometers was very tough and I had to leave Michielsens with fifteen kilometers to go. It was great to have ridden the longest distance here and to finish on the podium.”, says Slik.
KMC teammate Ramses Bekkenk finished fourteenth and took the victory at the Masters category. The top ten seemed long in sight but a small navigation error and a starting hunger in the cold and tough conditions cost Bekkenk a few places.