The Classic Brugge-De Panne was expected to be a showdown between the two dominating sprinters of the women's peloton, Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx). Both of them made it into the front echelon, but their sprint on the Zeelaan in De Panne was 'only' for second place: Right after the group neutralised an attack by Megan Jastrab, her Team DSM teammate Pfeiffer Georgi attacked and soloed to victory.
"When you're alone in a small group and you have to control two riders, it's never an easy situation to handle. Jastrab was the first to attack, and we managed to close the gap, but when Georgi went, I did not have enough energy to follow. Of course, I always race for the victory, but looking how the race went, I'm satisfied both with the result and the performance," Balsamo said after her second place.
