Lidl-Trek’s star Elisa Longo Borghini outsprinted Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon-SRAM to cap off a thrilling finale in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which saw her teammate Shirin van Anrooij make the final selection with a huge attack just before the Oude Kwaremont and set up a sprint for her teammate that made all the difference.
Like the men’s race, the Koppenberg split the race substantially, but it was the Oude Kwaremont that saw not only van Anrooij take the lead but for the peloton to split into various shapes, with the SD Worx power duo of Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering chasing to get back.
On the Paterberg van Anrooij saw her gap shrink a bit but the only riders coming up from behind were Niewiadoma and her illustrious Italian teammate. After fighting on alone for a while on the flats into Oudenaarde, the call was (apparently) made to wait and play a two-on-one game to the line. There were no attacks tried along the way, just a three up sprint where van Anrooij led out in the final 500m and launching Niewiadoma with Longo Borghini safely on the Polish rider’s wheel. Longo Borghini came by easily to win by a couple bike lengths. The splendid Marianne Vos led the chasers home for fourth, some ten seconds behind.
Oudenaarde – Oudenaarde 163 km
A mighty challenge for the women in Flanders, probably the best race course of all for them.
Expected finish time: 17:55 CEST
Three-time Winner of the Day: Lotte Kopecky
Can anyone do anything to prevent the threepeat? Three in a row even if she can make it and I’m assuming she can.
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