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Lonneke Uneken (VolkerWessels Cycling) edged Martina Alzini (Cofidis) for the victory at the Midwest Cycling Classic in Belgium, coming down to a photo finish to determine the Dutch rider earned the win.
On the straight run-in to the finish in Oostrozebeke, Hélène Hesters (Liv-Jayco-AlUla Women's Continental) accelerated to the front of the peloton. Uneken then moved past on the right side with an edge approaching the line.
Alzini's effort from the middle of the field moved her even with Uneken, and then the Italian raised her right arm in the air to celebrate. However, race officials took time to review the finish pictures, and Uneken was confirmed as the winner. Hesters secured third.
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It was the second time that Alzini had reacted too early at Midwest Cycling Classic and placed her second, with Wielerflits noting that she did the same at last year's inaugural event and finished runner-up to another VolkerWessels rider, Scarlett Souren.
On Sunday, the peloton took on a mainly flat 137.6km of roads between Tielt and Oostrozebeke for a second edition. Only two small climbs provided any opportunities to disrupt the peloton - five passes of Poelberg (450 metres at 2%) on the opening circuit and then five passes of Ketelberg (500 metres at 2.5%) on the finishing laps.
Riders settled in for most of the opening half of the race, with few attacks and even those attempts did not stick. Going into the final 30km, the race remained together with Liv AlUla Jayco doing a lot of the work on the final circuit.
Like the first year, it came down to a bunch sprint and a photo finish, with Uneken improving from third place in 2025 to the victory.
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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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