Bäckstedt, the European junior champion in the field and last week on the heavy circuit in Boom 9th among all the top riders, said in advance that she saw opportunities for winning.
And that was an understatement. The 17-year-old made the head start and dived into the field first. In the first half lap – in which a lot of walking had to be done in many mud loops – she did some jumps with Anna Kay, the winner of Leuven, but in part 2 she was already out of the pipe.
She passed the finish line for the first time with 7 seconds on Verdonschot and 13 on Kay. Every lap the lead of the young Bäckstedt grew, the Swedish-British was able to use her strength well and literally ran away from her competitors.
The battle for 2nd place was more exciting, but after 3 laps it was clear that it was for Verdonschot. She was very happy with her performance after a difficult period. She finished in just over a minute, Anna Kay came in third in over a minute and a half.
