Gunnewijk sprints to women's win

Loes Gunnewijk (Nederland Bloeit) won the women's World Cup after attacking a lead group that included 12 other riders with one kilometre to go. Gunnewijk's team-mate Annemiek van Vleuten gave Holland two place on the podium, taking second ahead of Italian Giorgia Bronzini (Gauss RDZ Ormu).

Gunnewijk finished runner up at the event last year, giving her confidence heading into today’s race. "That felt like a victory because it ended a period of misfortune at that time. But really, the win is even more beautiful," she said.

The winner attacked when things started to get quiet among the race's leaders, just before the final sprint would have begun. After her attack she was encouraged by her team manager Jeroen Blijlevens.

"He shouted in my ear that I had a gap and had to keep going,” she said. “That I succeeded is a dream come true. I have been, for a number of years, often close to a victory in a World Cup, but now I've got one."

Gunnewijk's teammate Marianne Vos retained her lead in the World Cup standings.

Cervelo Test Team’s Egon van Kessel seemed less than pleased with the race’s outcome, having done much of the work throughout the race. The team’s top rider was Charlotte Becker in fourth place.

“Halfway through the race, in the cobblestone section, we launched a good attack and that tactic resulted in a break of 30 riders with six of our own riders in the break,” said van Kessel. “There was one team with six riders and two teams with four, but what really happened was our team had to do a lot of the work, and the Leontien team had to do a lot of work.

“Finally they all came together with eleven riders in the front including three of our girls Charlotte, Iris and Sarah,” he added. “At the end we lost the race and Loes Gunnewijk from Nederland Bloeit won the race. The team that didn’t do so much work won the race – it can happen.”

The event was a learning experience for the USA’s Team Tibco, with the squad managing to land Brooke Miller in sixth overall. Despite making the winning break’s selection, Miller described it as a challenging day.

“It was a great day for the team, but also a frustrating one as we had more bad luck today,” Miller said. “But everyone raced really well. With each race we’re learning how to race smarter and be in good position. Today gave us a lot of confidence for the next couple races.”

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