Reigning European champion Marta Bastianelli pulled in a win after her fine showing yesterday, scoring the Omloop van het Hageland. With an elite group pulling clear in the closing kilometers, Bastianelli used her sprint smarts to hold a straight line on a sweeping right-hand curve to the finish.
Sunweb’s Leah Kirchmann rounded out the podium, with a strong third place. The Dutch team had a fiery performance all-round, with Floortje Mackaij in the top ten, and Susanne Andersen prominent in a late attack.
The race started with a couple of short-lived escape attempts, including one from Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) and Movistar’s Magorzata Jasinska. Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo) was off the front, but the persistent efforts of Virtu Cyclcing, Alé Cipollini, Michelton-Scott and Sunweb meant that a sprint was almost certain.
Defending champion Ellen Van Dijk took to the front to drive the field to the line, thinking of her Finnish team-mate. Van Dijk, clearly in storming form and prominent in the chase of Chantal Blaak at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad yesterday, did the perfect team-mate’s job, helping position Lepistö for a podium finish.
Although Hageland has a couple of climbs, it doesn’t offer anything as tough as Het Nieuwsblad, and is often a sprint finish from an elite group. The early part of the race leaves Tienen for the first 58 kilometers, before a sequence of six laps of a closing circuit. The finish comes in Tielt-Winge after 132 kilometers.
Having seen what lay in wait in the previous laps, Bastianelli and her team best assessed the curve of the finish line and picked the perfect route in to the win.
The opening weekend has set a lot of sub-plots in motion for the coming Classics: an outstanding start from Bastianelli and Virtu Cycling, as individual and team. Boels-Dolmans saw Chantal Blaak storm Het Nieuwsblad, and have strength to come back into the line-up. Trek-Segafredo continued their strong debut, with a podium place, and Movistar mixed things with no fear.
Omloop van het Hageland, 2019 Result, 132 kilometers
1 Marta Bastianelli (Virtu Cycling) 3hrs 32’ 580
2 Lotta Lepistö (Trek-Segafredo)
3 Leah Kirchmann (Sunweb)
4 Roxane Fournier (Movistar)
5 Gracie Elvin (Michelton-Scott)
6Eugénie Duval (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope)
7 Floortje Maickaij (Sunweb)
8 Sofie De Vuyst (Parkhotel Valkenburg)
9 Christina Siggaard (Virtu Cycling)
10 Natalie Van Gogh (Biehler Pro Cycling) all same time