MANI JUST MISSES TOP 10 AT ZEVEN WC

Ahead of the Telenet UCI World Cup in Zeven, Germany, Caroline Mani was eager to race on the fast, “American-like” track, but the French National Champion could only muster a disappointing 11th place.

“I really don’t have much to say,” said Mani. “I had a decent start until the first corner. Then girls starting pushing me around and I got scared.”   On the technical, dry course in Zeven, there were few places for Mani to get around slower traffic after losing important places near the front of the race.

“The course was mostly single track with only short stretches to pass,” Mani said. “I lost the front group and it was impossible to get back to them.”

As Katie Compton (Trek-Panache) and Sanne Cant (IKO Enertherm-Beobank) went clear of the field to duel for the win in the penultimate lap of the six-lap race, Mani was riding hard in no-man’s land to try to make something of her performance.

“If you look at the lap times, I was riding as fast as the world champion [Thalita de Jong](Rabo-Liv) and [Sophie] De Boer (Kalas-H.Essers-NNOF) on the third lap,” said Mani. “I know my fitness is here, but it was mentally hard. I didn’t have fun and my fight wasn’t as good as it should have been. But I learned from my mistakes, and I won’t give up on the next races coming.”

Mani still sits in second overall in the world cup standings, although the points at the top have become much tighter. A short break in world cup racing allows Mani to return to her home in Colorado to prepare for the next round of UCI racing at Ruts ‘N Guts in Oklahoma. After the C1 weekend in Tulsa, she will make the transcontinental flight back to Europe to contest the Namur and Zolder World Cups.

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Article credit to Raleigh Clement Pro Cycling Team
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