The wind around the start and finish town of Maldon was strong, but the peloton did not fall apart. The riders apparently lacked attacking spirit as there was no breakaway of the day. After about one hundred kilometers, the race finally broke open in the hill zone, which included much turning and twisting. Henderson attacked and soon gained an advantage of more than one minute over the peloton. The British fans, present in large numbers, cheered on the British time trial champion. Henderson was only caught in the closing stages, after which the bunch sprint was won by the Dutch Lorena Wiebes.
Henderson was happy with her form. “We wanted to race aggressively today. After my attack, I understood that the peloton didn’t really pick up the pace, so I went full throttle. I felt quite strong, so I kept going on the climbs. Unfortunately, the race lasted just a bit too long, so it ended in a sprint. I’m really looking forward to the coming days because this start gives me confidence.”
Race coach Lieselot Decroix: “We had a great day. This was an ideal scenario for Anna as an attacker because the final went over many narrow roads. We still had Coryn Labecki to fall back on in the sprint, but she didn’t have the legs for it today. Anna’s courageous effort certainly motivates us to go for it again in the coming days.”