Dwars door Vlaanderen: Win for Annemiek van Vleuten

European champion Annemiek van Vleuten wins two up sprint to take a brilliant victory in Waregem in the semi classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen,

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Dwars door Vlaanderen: Win for Annemiek van Vleuten

European champion Annemiek van Vleuten wins a two up sprint to take a brilliant victory in Waregem in the semi classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, beating Niewiadoma (CSR) with a long sprint to bring Telefónica-backed squad its first success.

Photo Gomez Sport

An unforgettable day in the history of the Movistar Team. The Telefónica-backed squad’s first ever win in a cobbled classic in Belgium came from one of the team’s biggest hopes for their new era, where women’s cycling has full protagonism. It was their big leader, Annemiek van Vleuten, who stepped onto the highest step of the podium for the Blues at Dwars door Vlaanderen, held on Wednesday over 122km around Waregem, with its last third dominated by the European champion’s impressive performance.

Van Vleuten tore the peloton into pieces with 36km to go as she attacked at the Côte de Trieu / Knokteberg, a move only matched by Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma (CSR). Together, they started a breathtaking escape, which was never allowed more than 30″ over the peloton as Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange, amongst other teams, tried to bring them back. At that point, Leah Thomas’ work shone as she went after nearly every single move trying to catch Van Vleuten.

Her work, together with the efforts from the whole squad directed by Pablo Lastras, allowed Van Vleuten, who launched a long sprint of more than 300 meters, raising her arms victorious and bringing the Spanish outfit their first success of 2021.

Photo Gomez Sport

Annemiek van Vleuten: “I’m so happy with this first victory and being able to pay the team back after the great job they’ve been doing since the start of the season. Races like this one and everything we’ve done this month make me feel really confident about the strength we can display together. At Omloop, I still felt like I had to get into how the team worked, then at Strade everything went really well and today we went a step even further. The whole team has followed the plan 100% and did their fullest. Gloria and Alicia covered us well in the beginning, then Barbara and Aude put me into the right position at all important moments, and having Leah at the front allowed us playing two cards”.

“After we did a recon of the course yesterday I was so motivated, and the test we carried out during the last two months at my Tenerife camps showed that the condition was good, yet it’s true that such a long-range attack, more than 30km from the finish, was a risky gamble, but it was at climbs like the Knokteberg where I felt I could make the difference. When I attacked and saw that only Kasia could follow me, I knew it was the time to keep pushing. Some strong riders were missing at today’s field, but I’ve seen that I’ve got the strength to go on the attack, and feeling well gives me confidence for what’s to come.”

“People talk a lot about Sunday, but it was actually a big goal to be up there here for the team, to keep paying them back for the support. This will really help the whole squad ride with more confidence. Seeing how we’re racing, everyone in this team, I’m more and more proud to be a member of the Movistar Team. For the time being, let’s enjoy this win, take some rest and get my body back to ‘normal’ after altitude training, then we’ll start thinking about Sunday.”

 


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