No. 20 Norbruis draws home crowd to their feet at World Championships

“It was fantastic to ride in front of my home crowd, let alone winning."

Alyda Norbruis drew the home crowd to their feet at the Apeldoorn velodrome, as she won the C2-3 scratch race in thrilling fashion. It was a memorable way for the Dutch cyclist to cap off a dominating performance at the 2015 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships, where she won all three races she competed in.

This enters as No. 20 in the International Paralympic Committee’s Top 50 Moments of 2015.

Norbruis said the energy inside the velodrome was one she will never forget.

“It was fantastic to ride in front of my home crowd, let alone winning,” Norbruis said. “Now all the people who stand close to me could be there when I hit the line.”

The current C2 track world champion claimed gold in the scratch race, the 3km pursuit and the 500m time trial.

In the scratch race, Norbruis beat the USA’s Jamie Whitmore and Germany’s Denise Schindler, respectively, in 16:15.676. Norbruis also won the pursuit in 4:18.005, about seven seconds faster than the silver medallist, and the time trial in 39:95.9, five seconds ahead of the second-place finishers.

Her accomplishment at the World Championships brings more anticipation, as she looks to repeat that feat at the 2016 World Championships in March, when she can further establish herself as the one to beat at Rio 2016.

Along with gold in the time trial, Norbruis also broke her own world record, which she set at the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The years three medal haul is simply continuing on from her incredible form in 2014, moving up to world No. 1 in 2015.

The 26-year-old attributes much of her improvement to her combination of both track and road racing.

“The track and road workouts support each other,” Norbruis said. “A long road training session helps me increase my stamina … and a power training session on the track gives me the benefit of speed I need on the road.”

She also said that a period of time off after the 2015 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup enabled her to stay fresh for the track season allowing her to train at a higher intensity for her track events.

Whilst her attention has switched immediately to the 2016 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Montichari, Italy, the C2 world champion knows that her victory in front of the home crowd in Apeldoorn is truly special.

“It is such an indescribable feeling, hard to express in words,” Norbruis said. “A feeling and experience that I won’t have any time soon again.”

To find out more about the IPC’s Top 50 Moments of 2015, visit the dedicated page on the IPC’s website.