Kirsten Wild of the Cervélo TestTeam won the Ronde van Gelderland ahead of Australians Rochelle Gilmore and Kristy Broun. Wild was no match for any of the other women in the bunch sprint. It was the first race of the KNWU topcompetitie series.
There was no wind along the dikes of the Ijssel to break up the race, so a sprint was inevitable. Cervélo fully trusted Wild to win the sprint, according to ad.nl. Swedish rider Emma Johansson tried to escape on the Emmapyramide, 40 kilometers from the finish. But she was caught in the last of the six-kilometer long finishing loops.
Wild then simply powered to the win. “My team did the hard work perfectly today. Johansson is a racer who can keep such an effort, but she was alone against six riders from our team. In the final I was set up perfectly and I was able to finish it well. To win the topcompetitie overall is not a goal yet. I try to give my best every time and then we will see where that leads me at the end of the year.”