Alison Jackson finished fifth in Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. Our Canadian felt strong throughout the race and wanted to join the sprint for the win. Her group of seventeen riders, which also included Jeanne Korevaar and Soraya Paladin representing Liv Racing, could not catch up with the two leaders, Annemiek van Vleuten and Kasia Niewiadoma. Van Vleuten won.
“It was an unprecedented tough race, everyone was fully engaged from the start. The first 60 kilometres were quite chaotic. Everyone was fighting to be well positioned in preparation of the zone with the climbs. When we faced the first ones, we were well represented as a team at the front. We could count on each other, the team was strong”, says Jackson.
“Shortly before the Côte de Trieu, I was part of an escape. Halfway through the climb, we were caught by Niewiadoma and Van Vleuten after their strong attack. We chased with a group shortly behind them and had the feeling that we could still close the gap. I knew I would have a shot when it came to a sprint, I felt good. In the final, I kept on encouraging Jeanne and Soraya: keep pushing, keep pushing! It was really tough.”
The two escapees had a lead of 19 seconds to the finish. Jackson eventually sprinted to fifth place. “Today we showed ourselves from a combative side again. Dwars door Vlaanderen was a good test for our legs. It was nice to see that we were still with many in the deep final. This gives confidence in view of the Ronde van Vlaanderen.”
Photo credits: Cor Vos