The course was ideal for the fast women. A week after Fabio Jakobsen’s sprint victory, all eyes were once again on the white-orange shirts of the Dutch team during the ‘Super European Championship’. This time Lorena Wiebes was the center of attention, and not without reason: when there is a sprint, nine times out of ten Wiebes is the fastest
So the Dutch women did everything they could to make it a sprint. Attractor Charlotte Kool and Wiebes were kept out of the wind, the rest of the women’s team (consisting of Ellen van Dijk, Thalita de Jong, Jeanne Korevaar, Anouska Koster and Floortje Mackaij) had to make sure that no one could drive away. And if a group was given space, as at the start of the last round, then the group also had to be within reach.
Lea Lin Teutenberg, Juliette Labous and Sheyla Gutiérrez were caught by Munich in the last of three local laps before it turned into a sprint as expected. The Dutch women and the Italy of Elisa Balsamo, Rachele Barbieri and Marta Bastianelli formed. With the Italian train on the right side of the road and the thinned out Dutch train on the left, Wiebes chose the wheel of world champion Balsamo. Wiebes took the win with an ultimate jump, although a photo finish had to be involved.
Cycling game!
The Vuelta a España starts on Friday 19 August with the Gran Salida in Utrecht with a team time trial. The second and third stage also take place on Dutch soil, after which the peloton descends to Asturias and the Sierra Nevada in the deep south of Spain. Join our Vuelta game and win great prizes!