Cristina Tonetti delivered a breakthrough victory at the GP Yvonne Reynders, slipping clear from a select lead group in the final kilometres around Herentals and holding the gap to the line. The 23-year-old Italian from Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi opened her sprint early on the flat, technical run-in and resisted the chase to finish six seconds ahead of Teniel Campbell, with Eline Jansen rounding out the podium in third.
The 133.2km course was classic Kempen terrain – largely flat, lined with narrow concrete farm roads and packed with corners – and it kept the peloton on edge from the start. Early aggression came in waves. Initial jumps by Heidi Franz, Catalina Soto Campos, Anneke Dijkstra, Natalie Quinn, Julie Hendrickx, Henrietta Colborne and Beatrice Caudera were marked down as the bunch refused to let anything breathe, the nervous pace punctuated by several crashes as the laps ticked by around Noorderwijk and Herentals.
The decisive selection formed only inside the last 15 kilometres when the race finally snapped. A move coalesced with Aniek van Alphen, Tonetti, Jansen, Meike Uiterwijk Winkel and Campbell, before Alba Teruel made it six out front. The composition was a neat balance of rouleurs and fast finishers, and with the bunch momentarily disorganised after earlier skirmishes, the gap opened enough to swing the outcome away from the predictable bunch sprint that has so often decided this race.
Sensing hesitation in the rotation, Tonetti chose audacity. She kicked clear with roughly four kilometres remaining, threading the final bends on the limit. Campbell reacted and tried to organise a response, while Jansen measured her effort to protect a podium as Van Alphen and Uiterwijk Winkel fought to keep the move alive. The cohesion never quite returned behind, and with the peloton’s chase still marshalled but too late, Tonetti’s advantage held all the way to the line.
Behind the break, the sprinters’ teams regrouped too late to contest the win but still fought for the minor placings. Lonneke Uneken won the bunch sprint for sixth, a small consolation on a day that defied recent editions’ sprint-friendly script. The winner’s roll also changes hands, with Tonetti succeeding last year’s champion Scarlett Souren.
There was frustration from those who missed the split. Marthe Goossens explained how late punctures upended AG Insurance-Soudal’s plan. “For us as AG Insurance-Soudal Team it was not a good day,” she said. “Margot Marasco, Fauve Bastiaenssen and Nicole Steigenga all punctured at the moment when the race was taking shape. I was isolated and had to respond to several attacks. That was not sustainable. When that group went, I had to let it go.” She still salvaged ninth and hinted at better to come later in the season.
Post-race, the event’s link to Belgian legend Yvonne Reynders was front and centre, with an international podium reflecting the race’s reach. There was even a curious moment during the wider Ladies Cycling Cup presentations when Katrijn De Clercq was briefly handed leader jerseys due to absent rivals. “It surprised me already. I had realised I hadn’t won the overall,” she said. “I found it really strange that I still had to go on the podium.”
Tonetti’s win – her first as a professional – came from bold timing and clean execution on roads that reward nerve and positioning. Campbell’s second confirms returning speed, and Jansen’s third marks another step forward for VolkerWessels on a day when initiative, more than raw power, decided the race.
2025 GP Yvonne Reynders result
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Main photo credit: mpics
