Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) won the Women's GP Wallonie, triumphing on the closing climb of the Citadelle de Namur with a late burst to the line from a select group of favourites.
She beat Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) into second place on the 3km long cobbled finisher while Anouska Koster (Uno-X Mobility) rounded out the podium at the end of 139km of racing through the Ardennes from Blegny.
Swinkels’ win, at the third edition of the women’s race, is the biggest of her career to date, coming in her first season at UAE following a three-year spell at Jumbo-Visma.
Her burst to win up the race’s final hill came after three-and-a-half hours of active racing with attacking in the final led largely by Lidl-Trek’s Italian duo Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini.
The day’s main breakaway was caught just over 20km from the line, just in time for the challenging hilly finale.
Italian champion Longo Borghini pushed the pace on the Côte du Tienne-aux-Pierres soon after, setting up an attack by her teammate Realini.
She pushed on solo, creating a gap of 45 seconds to the chasers. However, she wouldn’t last to the line, instead being brought back 7km out as FDJ-Suez led the chase.
2023 Junior World Champion Julie Bego (Cofidis) was the first to try a big move on the finishing hill, but neither she nor Realini could break free at the front. Realini instead set up the sprint for Longo Borghini, who entered the closing straight in Swinkels’ wheel.
It looked like prime position for the Giro d’Italia Women champion to speed past and claim her sixth victory of 2024. But Swinkels got the jump on her rivals, starting the sprint just as the leaders exited the final bend and holding off Longo Borghini for the win.
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