The Women’s WorldTour continued today at Trofeo Alfredo Binda with its famous hilly parcours including the finishing circuit around the town of Cittiglio and the climbs of Casalzuigno and Orino. It was a tentative start to the race, albeit there were a few attacks, with the race together through the opening 50 kilometres. Heading into the hills the attacks continued and there were several failed moves as the race entered the finish circuit but the strong pace in the peloton endured. Unfortunately, Wilma Olausson and Juliette Labous were involved in a crash but both were able to return to the bunch in a good way, albeit at the expense of a lot of energy.

As a result Labous and Olausson, along with Julia Soek worked together to bring Pfeiffer Georgi, Floortje Mackaij and Esmée Peperkamp into the last 45 kilometres. The relentless pace remained as the kilometres and climbs ticked down and on the penultimate ascent of Orino, Longo Borghini launched her race-winning attack. Mackaij rode the climb within herself, joining a second chase group that swelled in numbers once they hit the flatter valley roads.

Those ahead would contest the top positions on the day with Mackaij’s group sprinting for seventh place on the line. In the sprint Mackaij showed a good turn of speed on the uphill drag to the finish, taking fourth from her group, netting a tenth place on the day for the team.

“It was a hard race today,” explained Mackaij. “In the first hour, Juliette was involved in a crash and she was one of our final riders for the day. It took quite a lot of energy for her and Wilma to come back. I was able to stay near the front of the bunch quite well after some help from the girls. When the first six went, they were just too strong for me. I was in the group behind and felt like I was one of the strongest there. Our group sprinted for seventh and I was able to come tenth in the end for the team which was good. We really raced with our heart today and Pfeiffer did a really good job to be there in the final and cover some attacks. We had some bad luck in the first hour but I could handle myself well in the final which was good. We’ll build on this for the next races.”

Team DSM coach Bennie Lambregts added: “We aimed to follow the processes today in a good way and build on the last races, and we had a good plan for the race. After 27 kilometres into the day we had some bad luck with a crash which involved Juliette, which was a shame as Juliette was one of our final riders for the day. Julia and Wilma helped to bring her back to the peloton and they worked together as the final laps started. Juliette is a little bit disappointed because she had some good legs today but she kept fighting all day and worked really well for the rest of the girls which was good to see. Esmée and Pfeiffer then stayed with Floortje for really long and brought her into the finale in a good way, before Floortje then went on to finish in a good tenth place. We can be proud of how we rode as a team today, as we really fought for each other, and we will take this with us into the coming weeks.”

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