Helen Wyman hits World Cup Podium in Kalmthout

The World Champion chases after Helen

At the first round of the World Cup held in Kalmthout, Belgium, Helen Wyman
finished in 3rd place. In an impressive display from the start, Helen took to
the front of the field with World Champion Marianne Vos, and German Champion
Hanka Kupfernagel.

These 3 quickly set about putting in a gap to the rest of the field, and only
the experienced former world champion Laurence Leboucher could keep some kind
of contact.

With a small lead going into the second lap over the rest of the riders, Helen
Wyman put in a small gap to lead the race through the pit area on the second
lap. These small attacks from the leading 3 riders ensured the pace was high
enough to put a healthy gap between them and the chasing pack, and kept the
crowd guessing at the front.

It wasn’t until the 5th of the 6 laps, that Hanka put in a well timed attack
to take a 5 second lead when the riders exited the fast wooded section. Behind
her, Helen and Marianne continued to battle not only to regain contact with
Hanka, but also to try to secure 2nd place on the day.

Top three

Going into the final lap, Hanka retained her small advantage and behind her
the focus changed to gaining 2nd place. Having never gained a podium position
in a World Cup before, Helen was entering unknown territory and took to the
task from the front. Applying the pressure all the way around the course, Vos
was patient under pressure and waited until the final few hundred metres of
the course to finally get past Helen for 2nd place.

Helen was very pleased with the result which comes very early in the season
and without her cyclo-cross specific training having really started. There should
be lot more to come from the Belgian based UK champion this season.

The result was very good for Team FBUK, who were the only Professional Team
to have 3 riders represented in the race. With FBUK looking for new sponsors
for 2007, this result is sure to raise their profile and may help with the search
for title sponsors.

1 Hanka Kepfenagel 0:39:42
2 Marianne Vos + 00:12
3 Helen Wyman + 00:14
4 Laurence Leboucher + 00:39
5 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn + 01:05
6 Arenda Grimberg + 01:18
7 SanneCant
8 Anja Nobus + 01:32
9 Daniela Bresciani
10 Susanne Juranek
11 Veerle Ingels + 02:02
12 Nadia Triquet-Claude + 02:08
27 Gabby Day