Nienke Veenhoven led a remarkable show of strength from Visma | Lease a Bike at the Tour de Gatineau, sprinting to victory from a breakaway that saw the team sweep the podium and even claim fourth place. Martina Fidanza and Margaux Vigié joined her on the podium, with Lieke Nooijen just behind in fourth, while Laury Millette salvaged pride for the home nation with fifth place for Québec.
The 89-rider field tackled 11 laps of the punchy 11.1km circuit, the same loop used for Friday’s Chrono de Gatineau. The WorldTour squad were the only top-tier team in attendance and immediately took control of the 122.1km race. With 67km remaining, they forced the decisive split, a 12-rider move that contained all six of their riders alongside Millette, Skyler Goudswaard, Mathilde Huot, Joséphine Péloquin, Sofa Arreola Navarro and Karlijn Koops.
From that moment, the outcome was inevitable. Visma dictated the pace, with Fidanza and Veenhoven able to conserve energy while teammates set the tempo. Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 chased hard in the peloton but could not bring the leaders back. As the bell rang for the final lap, the Visma train accelerated, reducing the group until only Millette could cling on. Even she was ejected in the final kilometre as Veenhoven, Fidanza and Vigié broke clear, with Nooijen securing fourth.
Veenhoven described the victory as a collective triumph. “This one goes down as a true team performance. Our plan was to make the race hard right from the start. It suited us to go into the final with a select group. We raised the pace and ended up in a group of twelve, with six of us there. The girls did an incredible job. They set up the sprint perfectly, and all I had to do was finish it off in the last 200 metres. I’m super thankful to them and very happy with this win.”
For the 21-year-old Dutch rider, it was her second win of the season, following a stage success at the Baloise Ladies Tour. For Visma, it was their 18th victory of 2025, underlining their dominance at this Canadian block of racing.
2025 Tour de Gatineau result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Cor Vos
