Dutchwoman wins for the fourth consecutive year
Kirsten Wild of the AA Drink team outsprinted Charlotte Becker (HTC Highroad) and Mariannne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) to take her fourth consecutive Omloop van Borsele victory. The lead group of 11 was shattered for the final sprint, with only six riders sprinting it out in the end. The women had to do five laps for a total of 122 kilometers.
The winner was quite happy with the first win of the season. “Finally I pulled it off,” she said after the race to Dutch media. “As a team we were really ready. In the past few weeks I was beaten in sprints a few times. But I knew that one day I could be ahead.”
The first attack came after 25 kilometers from Christina Becker, the sister of Charlotte. Christina rides for the Dutch Skil Koga team. Her maximum lead was 1’10 over the peloton. She was pulled back after 50 kilometers, with most of the work done by the Garmin-Cervelo team. The American team tried to make the race hard.
Halfway through the race, a group of 20 escaped, which included riders like Vos and Wild, as well as Lizzie Armistead, Lucinda Brand and Loes Gunnewijk. Five kilometers from the line, Lucinda Brand attacked and gained ten seconds on the group. She was unable to stay away, with the only result the reduction in numbers of the front group.
Wild then sprinted right through the middle, with Becker to her left and Vos to her right Wild was ahead by a wheel’s length on a sunny day in the Netherlands.