In a neck-and-neck bunch sprint, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) dashed to victory at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, adding to her ever-growing palmarès.
The Dutchwoman beat former world champion Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) with a lunge over the line, taking her 76th career win by the width of her tyre.
A few tense minutes followed, both riders huddling in their teams, as the commissaires ruled on the photo finish. For the second year running, after Marlen Reusser's heroics in 2023, SD Worx-Protime launched into celebration.
Afterwards, Wiebes said she was "really happy to finally win" Gent-Wevelgem, a race she has started six time, and failed to finish in the previous two editions.
"It took a few years," the sprinter smiled. "The team did an amazing job. We made the race hard, but in the end it was anyway a bunch sprint."
The peloton splintered at points over the 171.2km course, with a handful of riders trying their luck on the run-in to Wevelgem. With 500m to go, world champion Lotte Kopecky wound up the lead-out for her team-mate Wiebes, unleashing her with the gantry in sight.
"I was really happy with the legs and really happy with the lead-out from Lotte," Wiebes said. Balsamo, the in-form rider, having won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Classic Brugge-De Panne, darted up the inside, but couldn't edge past the Dutchwoman.
How it happened
Echelons ripped through the peloton as it crossed the fields of West Flanders early on Sunday afternoon. By the time the group reached the first of seven punchy climbs, though, the race had come back together.
Kopecky, characteristically, was one of the most active riders over the steep, cobbled hellingen. The world champion led into the foot of the final ascent, the Kemmelberg, towing her team-mate Wiebes over its 20% crest. Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm-firmenich PostNL), dressed in the British champion bands, tagged along as an invited guest, in what looked to be the decisive move.
The pace, however, was not high enough for the trio to stay clear on the road into Wevelgem. A small chasing group containing Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) quickly caught up, before the peloton reeled all the leaders back in.
Into the final 25km, Movistar did their best to foil a bunch sprint. Emma Norsgaard tried a flyer, lasting 5km out front, before Floortje Mackaij too went on the attack. The pair then repeated their moves, yo-yoing off the front in the finale, but nothing stuck; SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek patrolled the bunch.
With 2.5km to go, Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) put in a last-gasp dig for victory. The Australian, a formidable time triallist, leapt clear of the bunch and led solo under the flamme rouge. Could she disrupt the inevitable sprint? The answer, it transpired, was no.
Brown was caught with 500m to go, victim of a finely-tuned SD Worx-Protime train that delivered Wiebes to triumph across the line. It was a common race ending for cycling fans, and a sight at which the Dutch super-team will never grow tired.
Results
Gent-Wevelgem 2024: Ypres > Wevelgem (171.2km)
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 4:16:19
2. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Chiara Consonni (Ita) UAE Team ADQ
4. Charlotte Kool (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL
5. Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Uno-X
6. Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Movistar
7. Puck Pieterese (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck
8. Thalita De Jong (Ned) Lotto Dstny
9. Christina Schweinberger (Aut) Fenix-Deceuninck
10. Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Roland, all at same time
