Women’s power: Female cyclist stopped midway in top race as she caught up with men competitors

Brussels, March 6: In what was seen to be an "awkward moment", a woman cyclist who took part in a prestigious race in Belgium was forced by the authorities to stop the event for a few minutes after she managed to catch up with the men's competition that had started five minutes earlier.

Nicole Hanselmann, who rides for Team Biglia, was taking part in Omlppo Het Nieuwsblad Race when she was stopped halfway by the authorities after gaining a couple of minutes' lead over chasing cyclists in the women's 122.9 kilometre race from Ghent to Ninove.

Nicoel was so overwhelmingly fast that she even caught up with the men cyclists who had started 10 minutes before the women competitors started.

But soon the officials intervened and made Nicole to wait at the road side for five minutes till the area was cleared by the male cyclists.

It was posted on the event's official Twitter account: "Neutralisation of our women race at a railroad crossing in Sint-Denijs-Boekel in #OHNWomen #ohn19 due to a very slow men's race. riders will restart with same timings."

The disruption did not help Nicole as she felt her momentum was hampered and the 27-year-old former road champion from Switzerland ended 74th ultimately after resuming the race after five minutes.

"Today was the first spring classic in Belgium. I attacked after 7km, and was alone in the break for around 30km...but then an awkward moment happened and I almost saw the back of the men's peloton... May the other women and me were too fast or the men too slow," Hanselmann wrote on Instagram.

Speaking to Cycling News later, Nicole said it was a bit sad for her as the five-seven minite stoppage killed her chances.