Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes was fastest when the Copenhagen Sprint ended in a sprint ahead of the National Gallery of Denmark. The rider from SD Worx-Protime relegated the Italians Elisa Balsamo and Chiara Consonni to the other podium places, while Amalie Dideriksen was the best Dane in 8th place.
As so many times this spring, Lorena Wiebes, SD Worx-Protime, was untouchable in the sprint, when the Copenhagen Sprint on Saturday was decided in a showdown between the fastest sprinters on Sølvgade in front of the National Gallery of Denmark.
The Dutchman relegated Elisa Balsamo to second place and Chiara Consonni to third place, while the Danish riders continuously made a good figure with aggressive and attacking riding. The best Dane was former world champion Amalie Dideriksen in 8th place.
The winner Lorena Wiebes emphasizes the good atmosphere along the route – and especially on the circuit in the heart of Copenhagen:
“It feels absolutely fantastic. The spectators made it a huge experience – even through the small towns along the route, the atmosphere was absolutely wild, and especially on the circuit in the city center it was intense. There were a few crashes, but luckily I stayed in the front and outside of them,” says Lorena Wiebes and puts a few words on the end:
“We lost an important rider to our leadout in one of the crashes, but we still managed. I opened the sprint a little earlier than planned – but rather than too late, and luckily it went well in the end.”
In second place was former world champion Elisa Balsamo, who experienced a tough race and an intense finish:
“It was a tough race and a really stressful finish, especially on the last lap where there was a fierce battle for position. But I think we did a really good race as a team, and I would love to come back again next year,” said Elisa Balsamo.
The 151 km started in Roskilde and went around North Zealand via Frederikssund, Hillerød, Farum, Hillerød and Ballerup, before the peloton after 117 km hit the circuit in Copenhagen in Nørrebro.
Along the way, there were many attempts to get away in a breakaway, but nothing decisive was ever created. Instead, the peloton ended up controlling the breakaway attempts, which never got more than a minute.
Inside the 11 km long circuit in Copenhagen, there was a lot of trying to get away from the field, but the race was controlled by the sprinter teams, so in the end the first edition of the World Tour race had to be decided in a sprint, and here Lorena Wiebes was superb.
The 26-year-old Dutch rider from SD Worx-Protime is the reigning European Champion and has won both Gent-Wevelgem, Bruges De-Panne and Milano Sanremo in the spring, as well as stages in both the UEA Tour and The Women’s Tour.