The women's edition of Gent-Wevelgem ended with the top favourite raising her hands on the line as Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won the race for the second consecutive time. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) finished runner-up, also for the second time in a row, while Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) rounded out the podium.
In her post-race interview, Balsamo admitted that Wiebes was the best sprinter in the peloton at the moment.
"She is the strongest now, but I am quite satisfied about my sprint. Of course, we are always racing to win, but a podium in an important race like this one is a good result, too," said Balsamo.
Lidl-Trek had tried very hard to split the race apart in the crosswinds or to get away with attacks, but it was all for nought.
"We were really aggressive as a team. Unfortunately, there was not enough wind because we were really trying to do some echelons, but it was not working. I want to say thank you to all my teammates because they always do a great job and they always believe in me, I really hope that I can win for them one day," she said.
The next opportunity for Balsamo to repay her teammates will be Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, 2 April.
Over the Kemmelberg, both Balsamo and Kool had been distanced by Wiebes who was part of a select group of five that included among others, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ). As Kool explained, this played into the chasing sprinters' cards.
"I think it's an advantage that Lorena is climbing so well at the moment. Nobody wants to go to the finish with her. So I always had hope, also because Balsamo was in my group and Lidl-Trek did a lot of work to close the gap," Kool looked back on the chase between the Kemmelberg and Ypres.
On the last 20km, the peloton grew in size as more and more riders came back from behind, including two of Kool's teammates.
"I hadn't expected the peloton to get that large again. For us, it wasn't bad to get two extra riders for the lead-out. We came to the front a bit early, so the last bit was a bit of surfing [the other teams' wheels] for me, but I gave my all, and this is what it was for today," said Kool.
"I am satisfied with this step and how I got over the climbs, I was quite close to the front on the Kemmelberg. The form is going up, that's what we need for the rest of the season," Kool finished.
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