A quick preview look at Grote Prijs Beerens 2024

Mathew Mitchell

Published on August 31, 2024
in Women's Cycling

Looking at the parcours, the Grote Prijs Beerens feels like it should always come down to a bunch sprint. That hasn’t always been the case in its 3 years of existence though. The very first edition in 2021 saw Thalita de Jong take the win from Christina Schweinberger and 3 other riders who had all escaped from the peloton. The rest of the race came in 2 and a half minutes later and contested the bottom end of the top 10 places. For De Jong, at the time it was her first victory in 5 years and helped to reboot her road career which had been faltering due to repeated injuries over the years.

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2022’s race was a bit more formulaic with none of the major name sprinters in attendance but still coming down to a big group of almost 70 riders contesting the win. Majo van’t Geloof took the win ahead of her teammate Jesse Vandenbulcke and Le Col Wahoo celebrated a rare 1-2 finish for the British Continental team that has unfortunately had to close its doors this season. Marith Vanhove of Parkhotel Valkenburg took the final podium spot ahead of the now-retired Susanne Meistrok who looked promising that season.

With the race now firmly established, Chiara Consonni came in as a big name last season and duly took the honours whilst racing for the UAE Development Team. It was a chance for the Italian to take a win without the likes of Balsamo, Wiebes and Kool around to contest the race. She beat Martina Fidanza and Sofie van Rooijen, both riders who have moved up a level this season with strong results in 2024. This time it was a small bunch of about 35 riders who contested the sprint but still very much the expected outcome.