Cervélo TestTeam’s Kirsten Wild successfully defended her Omloop van Borsele title today by winning the race for the third consecutive time. Wild won the 121 kilometer event in a sprint finish over Rochelle Gillmore (AUS-Lotto) and Kirsty Broun (AUS-National Australia Team), who finished second and third respectively.
“Right from the beginning of the race today we kept the speed in the peloton really high with the result that we were left with a group of 15 riders,” explained Wild afterwards.
“In the final, Charlotte Becker (Ger) was able to attack together with Nicole Cooke (GBR -Great Britain National Team), Ellen van Dijk (NED- HTC-Columbia) and Liesbeth de Vocht (BEL- Nederland Bloeit)," she continued. "Charlotte had a pretty good chance, but they where looking too much at each other and so when we came to the deep final I had to sprint. Despite the hard race my sprint went perfectly.”
Team management was happy with the way the tactics played out.
“There was very little wind today and the course was five laps on small roads,” said Egon van Kessel, sport director. “After one lap there was a break with 15 riders with five of ours. Halfway through the race Claudia Häusler (GER) was dropped so we were down to four. At the end of the race there was another break of four riders, including Charlotte. They held the break until about 500 metres from the finish then the second group came back with our team at the lead and Kirsten Wild won the race. Once again it was a very good team performance.”
Next on tap for Wild and the Cervélo TestTeam is tomorrow's GP of Roeselare, which she will also be defending her title from last year.
Omloop van Borsele 121 km
1. Kirsten Wild (NED) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Rochelle Gillmore (AUS) Lotto Ladies Team
3. Kirsty Broun (AUS) National Team Australia