Le Col-Wahoo’s Marjolein van ‘t Geloof won the GP Beerens in a sprint ahead of her teammate, Belgian Jesse Vandenbulcke and Parkhotel Valkenburg’s Marith Vanhove. For Le Col-Wahoo it’s the first UCI win since Veenendaal-Veenendaal back in May. The 1-2 nature of the result means they gain a host of points in the UCI standings to keep their slim hopes of promotion to the Women’s WorldTour alive. The team was 300 points behind the current incumbent, Ceratizit-WNT, who have looked on to be promoted for a long time this season.
The GP Beerens, raced over 130.6 kilometres saw an early break go with Flora Perkins and Nathalie Bex involved. The Brit and Belgian worked well and showed a statement of intent from Le Col-Wahoo. The peloton was reluctant to let them go far however and kept the gap down. At the 50-kilometre-to-go mark, the gap was down to just 30 seconds, an unlikely gap to ensure victory. Once they were caught, Le Col-Wahoo kept control of the peloton.
“The race today was mental, but we raced it super well. We were organised; the girls all knew the plan and we stuck to it.
We know we need a hard race to get results, so we sent girls off in breaks all day, to make the race hard and force the other teams to chase.
The leadout the girls gave me was out the books, a perfect leadout. It’s something we have practised a lot, and that showed today. It’s a big win for the team, but also for me – to have that first UCI win, the target I have been going for for years. Without the team’s support that would have never happened. I’m grateful for that.”
Marjolein van ‘t Geloof
Heading into the final, they launched a large lead-out train with Majo van ‘t Geloof sitting in the prime position. Vandenbulcke launched her lead-out and delivered Van ‘t Geloof into the ideal situation that allowed the Dutch rider to take her first win of the 2022 season.
“Everyone performed super well today, we were always planning to ride aggressively and the riders followed the tactic perfectly. The teamwork really paid off, with Majo and Jesse able to go 1-2 at the finish.”
Julia Soek, Le Col-Wahoo sports director
