Lorena Wiebes of Team SD Worx-Protime demonstrated her dominance in the 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique, clinching victory in the final stage and securing the overall title. The Dutch rider won all three stages of the race, maintaining her unbeaten record in this event.
The race’s concluding stage, a 91.2km route featuring eight laps of a central London circuit, ended with a thrilling sprint on The Mall. Wiebes, expertly led out by her teammate, world champion Lotte Kopecky, crossed the line ahead of Charlotte Kool and Kopecky herself, replicating the podium from the previous stage.
โItโs nice to also win on a totally flat stage. I enjoyed the city centre, and the team did a really good job of keeping us safe all day,โ Wiebes remarked after her victory. She added, โItโs always hard to try the same again, and hat-tricks are always hard to do, but Iโm really happy to be unbeatable in RideLondon and I will enjoy this. I really want to thank my teammates for all the work they did the last three days.โ
The third lap saw a crash involving Wiebes’ teammate Barbara Guarischi, but she managed to rejoin the peloton quickly. โI think her bike touched my rear wheel, so Iโm happy that I escaped the crash. But luckily, she came back to the peloton, and for the rest, we were safe all day,โ Wiebes explained.
Charlotte Kool also faced challenges during the race. Despite a near-miss crash and losing her lead-out rider Rachele Barbieri in the final stages, she managed to secure second place on both the stage and the overall classification. Kool shared her thoughts post-race, saying, โDaniek did amazing today keeping us safe on the circuit, then all the other girls did amazing. Itโs a shame we lost Rachele in the deep final, we really missed her there but in sprinting sometimes these things happen. Pfeiffer did adapt quickly from then but unluckily the others came really fast from behind. We learned a lot this weekend and we can build from this going into the next races.โ
The penultimate lap saw attacks from Kaja Rysz and Scarlett Souren, who managed to build a lead of nearly a minute. However, the peloton reeled them in before the final intermediate sprint, which was claimed by Ally Wollaston.
Lieke Nooijen crashed with 6.5 km to go but was able to finish the race. Guarischi then led the peloton onto The Mall, where Kopecky launched her lead-out from the sixth position at the 250-metre mark. Wiebes, following closely, surged past Kopecky in the final metres to secure her third consecutive stage win.
In addition to her stage victories and overall win, Wiebes also claimed the points jersey. Rebecca Koerner won the QOM jersey, while Eleonora Gasparrini took the white jersey for the best U23 rider. Lizzie Deignan was the best-placed British rider, finishing 18th overall.
Rider Thoughts
Charlotte Kool reflected on her race, saying, โI think it was actually a good weekend. I felt way better than in the Vuelta, for example, and I think Iโm getting there, so we are going in the right direction.โ
Nienke Veenhoven, who tried to work her way to the front after Lieke Nooijenโs crash, commented, โI had hoped for something more. I had my sights set on today’s stage, but on your own it’s hard to squeeze in between the other sprinting trains. There were only four of us and by the time Lieke crashed, it was almost no go against the bigger teams. I did my best, but this is not the result we came for.”
Ally Wollaston, who finished eleventh in the second stage and had a challenging race, said, โI have mixed feelings about todayโs race. On the one hand, Iโm really happy to be back racing and in the peloton again after a long period away, but on the other hand, Iโm not entirely happy with my results so far. I am pleased with how Iโm feeling on the bike, but I struggled to find my rhythm in the peloton again.โ
Eleonora Gasparrini, reflecting on her white jersey win, stated, “I am very happy for winning this jersey. Maybe today we could have finished with a better result as a team, but being able to win the Youth Classification I think is a good thing for me.”
2024 RideLondon Classique Stage 3 result
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2024 RideLoncon Classique GC result
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All photo credits: Ford RideLondon