RideLondon Classique: Wiebes wins stage 1

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Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) has picked up where she left off: Three years after winning the 2019 RideLondon Classique, the Dutch sprinter was first to the line on stage 1 of the 2022 edition, the first RideLondon Classique to be held as a three-day stage race.

Anna Henderson (Team Jumbo-Visma) animated the final of the stage with a solo breakaway, attacking after the intermediate sprint on the first crossing of the finish line. Henderson won both mountain sprints and held an advantage of up to 1:40 minutes but was eventually caught on the last 340 metres uphill to the finish.

"There was a lot of chaos in the final so we lost each other a bit, but I managed to stay with Charlotte [Kool] and Megan [Jastrab] was also really good in the front," said Wiebes. "Charlotte brought me to the wheel of Balsamo and from there I was able to sprint how we wanted."

Wiebes was untouchable, winning by over a bike length to World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team). Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) finished fourth on the day.

How it unfolded

Starting and finishing in Maldon, home of the famous sea salt, the 136.5-kilometre stage mainly consisted of two circuits: The peloton would first ride north and go around Abberton Reservoir twice, partly on wind-exposed roads, then the race would return to Maldon to cross the finish line and tackle two laps of a circuit with the day’s only classified climb on Spring Elms Lane and intermediate sprints with two and one lap to go. The final kilometre was spiced up by a 340-metre climb up Market Hill with a gradient of more than eight percent.

With nothing to fight for until the last 45 kilometres and no live broadcast to show their jerseys on, it was perhaps no surprise that the peloton stayed together for a long time. A crash forced Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) to abandon while the other riders involved could continue.

The first intermediate sprint on the finish line in Maldon with 43.6km to go was won by Wiebes ahead of Kopecky and Balsamo, and soon afterwards Henderson launched her solo attack. 

Racing on familiar roads, the British time trial champion whose family home stands near the stage 2 race route built an advantage of up to 1:40 minutes on the twisty roads of the finishing circuit. In the process, she won both mountain sprints and will wear the orange-blue mountain jersey on stage 2.

As the finish came closer, the sprinters’ teams stepped the chase up, and the gap was down to 24 seconds at the three-kilometre mark. 

Still leading when she entered Market Hill, Henderson was swamped by the sprinters with about 200 metres to go when Norsgaard led the peloton up the hill, followed by Balsamo and Wiebes. 

After the final turn, Wiebes launched her sprint on the last 100 metres to convincingly win the stage and take the overall lead.

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