Chantal van den Broek-Blaak wins Drentse Acht van Westerveld

Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SD Worx) emerged victorious at Drentse Acht van Westerveld after a chaotic and attritional afternoon of racing in northern Netherlands.

The former world champion, celebrating her 32nd birthday, attacked from a select group that had formed only 15km into the race, and soloed to victory over the final 10km. 

Charlotte Kool (NXTG Racing) won the sprint for second place from the 14-rider group, with Eleonora Gasparrini (Valcar-Travel&Service) clinching the final spot on the podium. 

The 138km route, based in Dwingeloo, consisted of three laps of a 39km loop and three laps of a 7km finishing circuit. It was nearly pan-flat, but was punctuated by cobblestone sectors, providing a precursor for Saturday’s Ronde van Drenthe, which brings the WorldTour calendar to a close. 

The main factor, however, was the weather, with strong winds combining with heavy spells of rain to make for a punishing day in the saddle. 

The race was in pieces almost immediately. After just 15km, the small group containing Van den Broek-Blaak went clear, and no one else would see the front of the race again all day. In fact, only 30 riders out of 100 would finish the race. 

In the front group, Van den Broek-Blaak had teammates in Lonneke Uneken and Christine Majerus, while defending champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot was there with her Trek-Segafredo teammate Chloe Hosking. As well as Kool and Gasparrini, the other members of the group were the NXTG duo of Ilse Pluimers, Maud Rijnbeek (NXTG), as well as Paulien Koster (GRC Jan van Arckel), Sofie van Rooijen (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Daniek Hengeveld (GT Krush Tunap), Marielle Meijering (Team Drenthe), and Femke de Vries (Loving Potatoes). 

There were only 17 riders in what emerged as the chase group, which notably contained Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo), Elena Cecchini (SD Worx), and Janneke Ensing (BikeExchange), all with teammates up the road. 

They held the gap below a minute to begin with but soon slipped, and after around 50km they were already trailing by nearer two minutes. Meanwhile, the rest of the peloton was already more than three minutes down. Things continued in the same fashion on the second lap and, by the end of it, pretty much all the riders in the dropped bunch took the opportunity to climb off and into their team buses, leaving two groups and just 30 riders in the race. 

Hosking crashed on the cobbles on the last of the big loops, but chased back on, although the group did still reduce to 15 when De Vries was dropped. They finished the final big loop and set off for the first of three local loops with 21km remaining and a lead of five minutes. 

There was more chaos to come, as the size of the gap meant the lead group would catch and effectively lap the chasers on the circuit, leading the organisers to pull the second group to a halt to allow the leaders to pass. By that point, it was certain that the winner would be coming from the front group, and, with SD Worx enjoying the numerical advantage, Van den Broek-Blaak seized the opportunity. 

She was quickly and swiftly away, opening up a sizeable lead as she took the bell and taking it all the way through the final lap. She reached the finish line almost half a minute up and punched the air with one hand to celebrate her second success at the race, having previously triumphed in 2014.