Mylène de Zoete finished in 19th place in our first Women’s World Tour race of the season: the Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne. In a long race of almost 160 kilometres she found herself in the second echelon when the peloton broke to pieces in De Moeren, notorious for the wind. Unfortunately there was also bad news. Shari Bossuyt crashed and sustained a double fracture to the collarbone which requires surgery.
Mylène looks back at her day.
It was a nervous race. In the last lap there was a crash with Marjolein van ‘t Geloof just before we hit De Moeren again. I was just behind it but could pass easily. After that the peloton broke to pieces. You really had to fight for your postion. When the first group rode clear Team DSM really rode fast to try and come back but we ended at 17 seconds or so. I was empty when the sprint came and couldn’t really sprint for that 13th spot, also because my wheel was a bit off due to someone hitting it.
Sports director Kelvin Dekker:
From the first moment things were beginning to get excited with the wind and the positioning Shari crashed. I knew immediately it didn’t look good and it was indeed soon confirmed that she broke her collarbone. In the next time through De Moeren it breaks but everyone manages to come back. In the next and last lap there was more wind. By then we had already done 120 kilometres and for some of our riders that was too enough for the day. In the end Mylène does a great job in staying in that second group. Her wheel was rubbing against the brakes for the final 15 kilometres so seeing her sprint and get a 19th spot was really good.
Ilse Pluimers (pictured by Joris Knapen after a flat) also finished the race in 81st place at six minutes from race winner Grace Brown.