Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won her fourth consecutive Ronde van Drenthe, becoming the sole record winner of the Dutch classic. In the uphill sprint on the cobbles of the VAMberg, Wiebes easily distanced Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck).
After a long solo break by Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels) was caught, an attack by Pieterse with one lap to go led to a strong front group of eight riders that also included Balsamo and Wiebes, but they were reeled in again by the peloton, setting up the sprint finish.
“It has become one of my favourite races. It didn’t go well in 2019, but since 2021 it has gone very well. The sprint is a bit different. But Christine [Majerus] rolled out the red carpet for me and dropped me off at the start of the cobbles, and when I launched my sprint and looked behind I saw the gap, that was great,” Wiebes recounted the uphill sprint.
Majerus and Wiebes had been part of the front group on the final lap but were brought back by the peloton.
“At first we thought it was the winning move, but then we heard from the car that several teams were chasing in the peloton. We looked around and could see them very close behind,” said Wiebes.
“It was a bit nervous in the peloton because of the wind, but in the end, it did less damage than we expected. I was at the front the whole race, we had a clear tactic and I had said before the race that I wanted to win, and the team delivered very well."
How it Unfolded
The race parcours was changed compared to previous editions as a short run-in to the VAMberg was followed by five laps of a 29.9-kilometre circuit for a total distance of 158.1 km. The finish was moved to the top of the VAMberg’s cobbled climb, meaning that the riders had to ascent the cobbled side of the landfill refuse mountain six times and the asphalted climb five times.
On the first lap, the peloton broke apart completely in the crosswinds, but the first groups merged again on the second lap. Demey attacked over the VAMberg and quickly had a one-minute advantage.
Though the time gap fluctuated quite a bit between only 15 seconds and 2:20 minutes, Demey kept the peloton at bay until the penultimate lap, only being caught 38 km from the finish.
The pace stayed high in the crosswinds as the top teams forced echelons, dropping several riders from the peloton. On the penultimate ascent of the VAMberg, Pieterse went all-in and forced a split over the two climbs as only Wiebes, Pfeiffer Georgi, and Charlotte Kool (both Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL) could hold her wheel.
Alice Towers (Canyon-SRAM), Christine Majerus (SD Worx-Protime), Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), and Balsamo joined the front group after the climb, forming a front group of eight where three teams had two riders each.
The peloton was only 16 seconds behind, though, and with UAE Team ADQ and Uno-X Mobility sharing the chase work, the gap was closed with 19 km to go.
An acceleration by Pieterse and an attack by Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal) went nowhere, and the sprint trains took over on the last ten kilometres. SD Worx-Protime and Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL were positioned very well with four riders each at the front of the peloton, with Balsamo on the wheel of Kool and Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT) eventually slotting in behind Wiebes.
1.5 km from the finish, UAE Team ADQ and Lidl-Trek came to the front while SD Worx-Protime fell back a bit, with gaps appearing through the corners towards the landfill. Georgi, Kool, Eugenia Bujak (UAE Team ADQ), and Balsamo were at the front too early as they entered the final kilometre, and Majerus piloted Wiebes to the front again with Letizia Paternoster (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Pieterse tagging along.
When Georgi swung off with 300 metres to go, Majerus delivered Wiebes perfectly to the last little kick on the cobbles. When Wiebes launched her sprint entering the 100-metre cobblestone section, Balsamo had to let her go while Pieterse pushed on from behind to take third place.
Results
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