GP Oetingen: Boilard solos to victory in rescheduled race
Kuijpers, Boogaard round out the podium
Simone Boilard (St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93) soloed to victory at the third edition of the Belgian one-day race, GP Oetingen on Saturday. The 23-year-old Canadian took a flyer with 13 kilometres to go to claim the first professional win of her career.
Evy Kuijpers (Fenix-Deceuninck) crossed the line eight seconds later to take second place. Maaike Boogaard (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) finishing a further 13 seconds, was third.
Originally scheduled to take place on March 8, the 3rd edition of the race was cancelled at the late minute due to heavy snow and postponed to August.
Boilard, a former junior women's road race medallist at the 2018 World Championships, recovered from surgery to correct iliac artery endofibrosis and a nearly-fatal sepsis infection in 2020. After two seasons with St Michel-Mavic-Auber93, she will move up to the WorldTour with Uno-X for a two-year contract in 2024.
“My first pro Win! When I least expected it … This season has been so hard for me dealing with a lot of crap on and off the bike but this week-end I just tried to enjoy racing, be in the moment and stop focussing on the outcome,” Boilard wrote on Instagram.
The 119.3km course was split into two parts, starting with a large loop around Oetingen featuring the Congoberg (1.1km at 5.4&) and the Rensberg (1.4km at 3.9%) followed by six laps of the 12km finishing circuit which included a cobbled section and the Bergstraat (700m at 5.7%).
The field shattered under numerous attacks on the finishing circuits. With two laps to go, the final selection was made with Boilard, Kuijpers, Boogaard and Jeanne Korevaar (Liv Racing Teqfind) getting a gap on the rest of the field. On a solo flyer, Boilard pushed the pace on the final lap while the chase was on behind her.
Results
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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