Team DSM’s Women’s program were back in action today for the testing Nokere Koerse, with its cobbled sections and punchy circuit. This year’s edition of the race was made even harder, with strong winds making for a challenging day in the saddle.
Rolling out from Deinze, the race stayed compact and all together until 40 kilometres to go where a strong trio of riders attacked and the race completely split up behind. Susanne Andersen, Floortje Mackaij and Lorena Wiebes rode well to be a part of the chasing group, with Andersen and Mackaij contributing to the pace setting. The gap to the trio ahead fluctuated for the remainder of the race but those ahead worked well until the finale, ultimately fighting it out for the race win.
In the group behind, Andersen and Mackaij gave it their all in the chase before setting Wiebes up as best as possible for the sprint. In the tricky cobbled rise to the line Wiebes showed a good turn of speed, finishing fast for second place in the chasing group, a result that saw her take fifth place on the day for the team.
“First of all it was really nice to compete in sprint again after the crash at the Healthy Ageing Tour, it wasn’t for the victory but I know that will come soon and we’ll keep working towards that. The race itself was really hectic today. At the end Floortje, Susanne and I were in the first group and in the last lap the girls went all-in to close the gap, but it just didn’t work out. I think we made another step in the right direction today though.”
Lorena Wiebes
“We started the race in a good way and we had a nice plan that we wanted to follow to take the race into our hands and get the outcome we wanted. That succeeded initially with our goal to go for the sprint with Lorena. As we started the second part of the race we lost our concentration a little and we weren’t in position for the difficult moments. At that point the bunch split in two and so did our team, with Susanne, Floortje and Lorena in front. That meant we couldn’t take the finale into our own hands fully and after some bad luck, we couldn’t close to the three leaders out front. Of course, we had hoped for more result wise but overall it was a good learning day for us. We’ll definitely take some points from the race, assess them and take them with us into the coming races.”
Team DSM coach Rudi Kemna
RESULTS
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PIETERS Amy | SD Worx | 3:13:53 | 200 |
| 2 | BROWN Grace | Team BikeExchange | ,, | 150 |
| 3 | KLEIN Lisa | Canyon SRAM Racing | 0:04 | 125 |