A bronze medal. That was Yara Kastelijn’s gain at the Dutch cyclo-cross championship (espoirs). Even though only the red-white-blue jersey counts, Yara was satisfied with her performance. “Not bad, third place.”

Yara came a long way. During the worldcup cross in Namur last month, our rider sustained an injury on her collar bone. With the exception of one lap in Loenhout, she did not spend any time on the cyclo-cross bike. “I have trained on the road and on rollers in order to relieve my collar bone.  Otherwise it would ‘bounce’ too much”, she says.

And hence, it was Saturday noon at the Dutch championship a matter of waiting and testing. “I missed rhythm which I know beforehand.  But it did go rather well, although I felt my collar bone. I was sometimes forced in the mud sections to get off the bike as pulling at the handlebar was not conducive.

Inge van der Heijden took gold while Yara crossed the finish line in Surhuisterveen in Fryslan as third a little while later. “I can live with that, especially considering where I came from”, she says.

Yara intends to race another 2 crosses.  Afterwards, the world championship in Valkenburg awaits.