Nokere Koerse

French sprinter from Movistar Team claims fifth finish within best ten riders this season in demanding, uphill bunch kick over cobblestones in Belgium; Lorena Wiebes (PHV) notches up resounding victory.

Dutch fastwoman Lorena Wiebes (PHV) took an authoritarian victory at the first-ever Nokere Koerse Dames (UCI 1.1), a Belgian event over 121.6km with five final, local laps over two cobbled sectors: the Herlegemstraat and the 300m ascent to the finish line, the popular Nokereberg.

Despite solo attempts from strong riders, such as Lotte Kopecky (LSL) or Elena Pirrone (AST), the race came down to a bunch sprint for which orderly worked, amongst many other squads, the Movistar Team led by Jorge Sanz and Sebastián Unzué. Biannic, Jasinska, González, Teruel and Oyarbide always kept the front to make sure their top sprinter, Roxane Fournier, could contest the victory.

?‍♀️ @lorenawiebes first winner of women's @NokereKoerse pic.twitter.com/CfLzHUAULw

— Thomas Maheux ? (@ThomasMaheux) March 20, 2019

An agile acceleration at the foot of the ascent wasn’t fortunately to be kept through the demanding last few meters uphill, which meant Fournier had to stay content with 10th place, her fifth top-ten finish in 2019 after the Vuelta CV (6th), the Setmana Valenciana (4th at two finishes) and the Omloop van het Hageland (also 4th). Fournier has more than a third of the Movistar Team’s 14 top-ten results since the season kicked off six weeks ago.