Wiebes wins the Ronde van Drenthe

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Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) has defended her Ronde van Drenthe, winning the sprint of a small peloton ahead of world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Women's WorldTour leader Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx). 

After an aggressive race, the last attacker Anouska Koster (Team Jumbo-Visma) was only caught on the finishing straight, with the sprint launching immediately afterwards.

Wiebes had suffered a puncture with 20 kilometres to go and returned to the peloton just before the final ascent of the VAM-berg where the race split up in several small groups. 

Her teammate, British champion Pfeiffer Georgi, worked hard to bring the second group with Wiebes back to the front. Just when they had made contact, four riders attacked with 11 km to go and held a gap of up to 19 seconds on the reduced peloton where Team DSM and Trek-Segafredo were chasing hard. With the chasing peloton about to make the catch, Koster attacked one last time with 1.5 km to go, and she was only reeled in with 500 metres to go.

“It was hard after the puncture, but luckily I still had teammates in the group who worked hard in the final. After my teammates had been chasing down the break, I chose the wheel of Balsamo for the sprint. 

"I felt that I just had to go, and I started sprinting just a bit earlier than Balsamo and could use the space on the left side. I had to finish it off after the team had chased so hard, you never know, but I made it to the finish line,” said Wiebes after the race.

How it unfolded

One of the longest women’s races, the Ronde van Drenthe offered 156 km of racing with six cobblestone sectors totalling 14.3 km in the first half of the race as well as four double ascents of the VAM-berg in the second half, the last one only 13 km from the finish line.

Kerry Jonker (Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch) attacked after only 10 kilometres, but she was caught with just over 100 km to go. The race then stayed together until Teuntje Beekhuis (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Marta Jaskulska (Liv Racing Xstra) took off between the first and second climbs of the VAM-berg.

On a short crosswind sector, Team SD Worx pushed the pace and split the peloton in two, catching the two escapees in the process. After the third VAM-berg ascent with 40 km to go, there were about 30 riders left in the front group, and attacks started flying as the race headed to the finishing town of Hoogeveen for the first time.

A breakaway of five formed with 33 km to go when Jip van den Bos (Team Jumbo-Visma), Mischa Bredewold (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Marlen Reusser (Team SD Worx), Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra), and Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) joined forces. When the chase group was led the wrong way in a roundabout, their advantage increased to 35 seconds even though Georgi did not take turns.

On the way back to the VAM-berg, Trek-Segafredo and Canyon-SRAM chased hard and closed the gap just before Kopecky and then Wiebes had punctures, though both quickly returned to the peloton. On the final ascent of the landfill ‘mountain’, ten riders got away from the next group of twelve that included Wiebes, but Georgi closed the gap.

Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health), Koster, Christine Majerus (Team SD Worx), and Sarah Roy (Canyon-SRAM) attacked with 11 km to go, and as their advantage dwindled, Koster tried to get away solo twice. Her first attempt was quickly shut down by Roy, but Koster got away on the second try. The other three attackers resigned and were reeled in by the peloton while Koster continued, but she was also caught with 500 metres to go. Wiebes launched her sprint with 200 metres to go, quickly passing Balsamo and keeping the world champion as well as Kopecky behind her until the line.

After winning the Strade Bianche, Kopecky defended the lead in the Women’s WorldTour with her third place.