Brit women's mixed fortunes in World Cup snow

British riders Nikki Harris and Gabby Day put in a strong performance on the snow-laden circuit of Kalmthout, Belgium, during Sunday's sixth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.

Harris placed 12th and Day 13th behind winner Daphny Van Den Brand of the Netherlands on a challenging course made even more challenging by a thick covering of snow and ice.

World Champion Marianne Vos was second, with series leader Katherine Compton in third.

After a couple of victories in recent weeks, Britain's Helen Wyman was hoping to put in another top ten ride at Kalmthout, but the Kona rider was forced to withdraw from the race before the finish.

Britain has three women in the series' top 20 standings: Wyman is now in 10th position, with Day 13th and Harris in 16th.

The men's race was won by Belgian cyclo-cross star Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) ahead of Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) in second and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) in third. Britain's Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) was 57th.

Albert leads the series overall, with Stybar a very close second on the same number of points. Field is in 44th position overall.

Belgium plays host to the fifth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup at Zolder on Boxing Day (Saturday, December 26).

The 2010 Cyclo-cross World Championships take place in Tabor, Czech Republic, on January 30-31. Marianne Vos and Niels Albert are the defending champions.

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