Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle Honda) wins(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle Honda)
Jolien d'Hoore congratulated after her win(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle Honda) wins a close sprint(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
The sprint for stage 2
Jolien D'hoore was on lead out duty for Wiggle Honda during stage 2 of the Aviva's Women's Tour but the Belgian champion came up trumps to win her fifth race of the season. Having finished fifth the day previously, D'hoore was looking to pilot Giorgia Bronzini to the stage win but the technical finish and wind saw the two lose contact, opening the door for the 25-year-old to sprint for victory.
"It was pretty close in the end," D'hoore added. "I hoped Giorgia Bronzini was in my wheel, so I could do the lead out, but she wasn't there. She told me to go from the corner, and she would see if she was in my wheel or not. So I just gave everything to the finish.
"The sprint was really hard. My idea was to go from the last corner full gas. In my mind Giorgia was on my wheel, so I just went full gas from the corner. But it was still 300 metres to go, so it was pretty long; and it was headwind and uphill, so it was hard."
Having picked up one second bonus at the Great Bentley intermediate sprint and ten seconds on the line as stage winner, D'hoore also moved up to second place on GC, just one second behind Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) but the yellow jersey isn't a personal goal as she explained.
"I think the GC is more for Elisa Longo Borghini, or Giorgia," D'hoore said. "I just wanted to go for a stage win, and I have it now. So I can stay relaxed and I will see how I go in the next stages."
Having done a lot of work for yesterday's sprint only to end up empty handed, D'hoore explained better executed tactics on the 138km stage from Braintree to Clacton paid off and relieved the pressure on the team to get a result.
"I'm just happy we could take a stage win," she said. "Now we can stay relaxed, and see how it goes in the next days. We still have Giorgia for the stage win, and maybe GC, and Elisa for GC, so we will see.
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"This is a boost for the whole team. We did a lot of work today as well, so I'm happy for me and the team, and maybe we can show something in the next days."
Stage 3 of the Aviva Women's Tour will see the peloton cover 139.2km from Oundle to Kettering.
