Even with a numerical advantage, trying to beat Lorena Wiebes once she has split the race apart on her own up the hardest climb is a headache. But why exactly did the riders who made it over the top of the final Kemmelberg at In Flanders Fields work with her in the final 35km, knowing that any sort of sprint would result in near-certain defeat?
Having raced aggressively in the opening 100km, UAE Team ADQ found themselves with two riders in the leading group of five heading towards the finale in Wevelgem, Karlijn Swinkels and Eleonora Gasparrini.
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The big debate at FDJ and UAE
This brought some confusion to FDJ United-SUEZ sports director Lars Boom, with Elise Chabbey also in that group, and he was clear that he thought a second attack from Swinkels was the way to go against Wiebes.
“When Gasparrini attacks, I think at the moment when she comes back, Swinkels has to go again from her teammate, and she doesn’t,” Boom told Cyclingnews at the finish.
“That’s a pity that it doesn’t happen, because then the race can change a bit. I think her DS, Michel Cornelisse,…
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