Belgian Bonanza '23: 18th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad WWT + 18th Omloop V/H Hageland + 12th Le Samyn Dames (Feb 25-26 + 28)

[Samu Cuenca]

Movistar and UAE are leading the chase, but they're not closing the gap fast enough.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Now the situation is reversed. Chase gets some motorpacing and Kopecky gets nothing, lol.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Maybe Canyon should have joined the chase a bit earlier. It might be close.

 

[postmanhat]

Headwind beginning to kick in. C'mon Lotte!

 

[Dk one]

What were the chasers doing, including movistar, before the last climb, looked like they were on training ride, no urgency. Also, movistar counting on Sierra to being able to follow for too long.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Another big win for Kopecky. Only Georgi responded to her attack on the Muur, but couldn't follow. Wiebes was almost boxed in, but still beat the others easily.
Movistar ended up in a horrible situation with Sierra in front and AVV behind.

 

[Didinho]

I'll be attending the race tomorrow, not far from home. Curious about Puck Pieterse's first road race.

 

[Sciatic]

Maybe Canyon should have joined the chase a bit earlier. It might be close.

It seemed like the entire group just chilled after the Muur and let Kopecky add 10-15 seconds to her lead. Was frustrating to watch. Kopecky was likely the strongest, but the others could have kept the race interesting at least.

 

[Sciatic]

What were the chasers doing, including movistar, before the last climb, looked like they were on training ride, no urgency. Also, movistar counting on Sierra to being able to follow for too long.

Agreed

 

[RedheadDane]

It looks like the stream from Hageland will cover more than two hours of that race.

Do you have a link?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The Flemish Fandango continues with today's Omloop Van Het Hageland.
A race that usually ends in a sprint. SD Worx are bringing the full lead out train for Wiebes, so I don't expect a different outcome this year.

As already pointed out by others, this is Puck Pieterse's first ever elite road race.
It's also her teammate Laura Süßemilch's first road race since she crashed out of the Tour de France Femmes last year.

Start list: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=9201&y=2023&k=8

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[Samu Cuenca]

86 km left.

Giorgia Vettorello from BePink and Yuli Van Der Molen from AGI -SQS, who has the honour of being Niki Terpstra's niece, have a gap of 40 seconds.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

A strong group with Wiebes, Conosnni, Mackaij, Bastianelli and Pieterse, among others, was brought back by the Bäckstedt sisters earlier, and now Alison Jackson and Arianna Fidanza are leading the race with 33 km to go. Their gap is up to a minute now.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Mackaij has gone solo inside the final 5 km. It seems like SD Worx can't close her down.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They've caught her now with a km to the line.

 

[RedheadDane]

"Wiebes ist los!"

(Spelling might not be accurate)

 

[theyoungest]

Was Pieterse involved in that crash in the final? I didn't see her anymore.

SD Worx looking quite dominant this weekend.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Bastianelli with another podium and Cordon-Ragot in third.
Fidanza looked great and finished fourth despite her earlier effort, and Paternoster has already done better than in 2022.

 

[yaco]

I was impressed with the ride by Neo-pro Georgia Howe - She single-handlely brought back group 2 to group 1 with SD Worx drilling the front group - Reckon, she brought back 15 or 20 seconds in the space of 5kms - There is potential in this rider.

 

[Didinho]

Was Pieterse involved in that crash in the final? I didn't see her anymore.

SD Worx looking quite dominant this weekend.

Saw Pieterse struggling on the last climb, she rode on the other side in between cars to the top unlike all the others. But she also worked for the faster Julie de Wilde before that so logically she was done. Still a very strong debut!

 

[Didinho]

Bastianelli with another podium and Cordon-Ragot in third.
Fidanza looked great and finished fourth despite her earlier effort, and Paternoster has already done better than in 2022.

Fidanza looked so strong! Maybe could've been closer if she didn't went in the attack before the final.

 

[Didinho]

Saw Pieterse struggling on the last climb, she rode on the other side in between cars to the top unlike all the others. But she also worked for the faster Julie de Wilde before that so logically she was done. Still a very strong debut!

And she did crash at 15k to go. That explains why she was behind the whole group at that climb, on the other side. Trying to come back. She was one of the best on the cobble climb, really impressive.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Fidanza looked so strong! Maybe could've been closer if she didn't went in the attack before the final.

She might have been able to finish on the podium, but when you're up against Wiebes, it's not stupid to try and avoid a sprint finish if you want to win. Too many teams and riders have failed to understand that over the years.

SD Worx is not riding Le Samyn, so Fidanza will definitely be among the favourites there.

 

[theyoungest]

And she did crash at 15k to go. That explains why she was behind the whole group at that climb, on the other side. Trying to come back. She was one of the best on the cobble climb, really impressive.

Ah that explains it. She was indeed so strong on the climbs, so I thought it was unlikely that she would get dropped. Probably taken out in that big crash.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It's time for the third and final race in the Belgian trident. The past two editions of Les Samyn have seen Emma Norsgaard¨s powerfull sprinting in action. Lotte Kopecky wa sable to pass the Dane in the final emters in 2021, but Chiara Consonni failed do the same last year (after Clara Copponi had opened up the sprint too ealry, thinking the finish line was closer thatn it was, and by doing so brought back her own teammate Vittoria Guazzini).

Neither Norsgaard, Kopecky, Copponi or other top sprinters like Loeena Wiebes, Charlotte Kool and Elisa Balsamo are taking part this time, so there isn't a clear favourite. But if it does end in a sprint, Consonni, Marta Bastianelli, Lotta Henttala, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Arianna Fidanza, Audrey Cordon-Ragot and others will fancy their chances.

The race has started and the broadcast begins at 13:45 CET.

Start list: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=9206&y=2023&k=8