The 2025 edition of Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich delivered a tightly fought race that only came alive in its final hour. On a hilly 112km course split between four longer loops and four punchier finishing laps, the first significant selection came late, with a flurry of attacks narrowing the race down to a small lead group. Marta Lach proved fastest in a five-rider sprint, winning by centimetres ahead of Maria Giulia Confalonieri, with Sarah Van Dam completing the podium.
A steady start, then a sharp finale
The early phases of the race saw few sustained moves as the peloton remained compact through the four longer laps. With the short climb into Garnich offering a launchpad, several riders tried to animate the race, but no move managed to stay clear. It wasn’t until the bunch entered the shorter finishing circuits that any serious splits began to form.
The tone changed with around 30km to go when Matilde Vitillo launched a solo attack on the climb. Though she was caught before cresting the hill, the effort disrupted the group and triggered a cascade of counterattacks. From that point forward, the field thinned rapidly, with the more aggressive riders pushing a hard pace over the two key climbs on each lap – Rebierg and the rise back into Garnich.
With just two laps to go, a front group had formed, including Marta Lach, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Sarah Van Dam, Margot Vanpachtenbeke, and Eva van Agt. They held a narrow margin over the chasers, where Visma | Lease a Bike still had firepower in reserve. Margaux Vigié and Rosita Reijnhout were both present in the second group, but the gap never closed.
In the closing kilometres, the front five worked just enough to keep the gap alive. Lach and her SD Worx-Protime teammate Steffi Häberlin had tried to force a split earlier, but once back together, it was Lach who conserved energy for the final sprint.
Van Agt briefly looked to attack near the top of the last climb but couldn’t make it stick in a headwind. “I wanted to ride all-out to the top. Unfortunately, I had a headwind and was just not strong enough to get away alone,” she said. “On paper, they were all faster than me, so I was looking for another moment to attack. At 900 metres, it might have been possible, but I hesitated too long. I kind of regret that.”
The sprint was tight, with Lach only just edging Confalonieri on the line by what she estimated to be “maybe 2cm”. Van Dam came through for third, followed by Vanpachtenbeke and Van Agt. Four seconds behind, the chasing group contested the sprint for sixth, won by Noa Jansen.
2025 Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Cor Vos
