Powerful Wiebes sprints to second consecutive victory
Lorena Wiebes was the strongest in the sprint on the Vanackerestraat for the second year in a row. She perfectly finished off the teamwork of Team SD Worx-Protime, beating Balsamo and Kool.
At 1:40 PM, the women in Ypres prepared for the start of the 14th edition of Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields. A breakaway of 7 riders quickly formed: Brausse (Ceratizit Pro Cycling Team), Ragusa (Human Powered Health), Griffin (Roland), Caudera (Bepink – Imatra – Bongioanni), De Grave (DD Group Pro Cycling Team), Boogaard (Volkerwessels Cycling Team), and Kiekens (DD Group Pro Cycling Team). They worked well together, gaining an advantage of nearly 5 minutes during the first hour of racing.
As they approached De Moeren, the peloton picked up the pace significantly. The breakaway’s lead shrank to 3 minutes on the famous wind section. Nervousness caused some splits in the peloton, but it all came back together. As they neared the hill zone, a few crashes startled the peloton. Among those who fell was Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), who started a chase towards the Scherpenberg.
Before the first climb, the peloton caught up with the breakaway. The next move came with the first ascent of the Kemmelberg. There, Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) launched the first attack, but it wasn’t a decisive move.
(read more below the photo)
Eventually, a group of six riders managed to break away from the peloton: Bredewold (Team SD Worx – Protime), Manly (AG Insurance – Soudal Team), Jaskulska (Ceratizit Pro Cycling Team), Dijkstra (Volkerwessels Cycling Team), Brand (Lidl – Trek), and Korevaar (Liv – Alula – Jayco). However, their effort didn’t last long, as everything came back together after the second climb of the Baneberg.
At the foot of the second and final ascent of the Kemmelberg, Kopecky accelerated. Her effort led to the formation of an elite group with Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime), Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Dygert (Canyon// SRAM zondacrypto), and Borghesi (EF Education – Oatly). Wiebes tried to keep the pace high in this group, but with 26 kilometers to go, they were caught by the chasers.
Despite a handful of attacks, the sprint was inevitable. Kopecky positioned Wiebes perfectly, allowing her to finish with dominance. She sprinted faster than Elisa Balsamo (Lidl – Trek) and Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic PostNL).
With this victory, Wiebes claimed her second consecutive win at Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields. With this second win, she joins Kirsten Wild as a co-record holder.
