Wiebes sprints to 3 out of 3 in Schoten
On the Churchilllaan in Schoten, Lorena Wiebes won the Scheldeprijs for the third time in a row. She was the fastest in the sprint, beating Charlotte Kool and Chiara Consonni.
Under a radiant sun, the women started their 3rd edition of the Scheldeprijs in Schoten at around 11:30. They faced a ride of 131 km. After a loop towards Hoogstraten and Wuustwezel, 3 local laps awaited in and around Schoten.
It was a while before there was the first breakaway. After 50km, Mieke Docx (Lotto Dstny Ladies) accelerated away. The Belgian was joined by Alice Palazzi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo). A counter-attack by the peloton led to a regrouping. One attack after another followed, but no one really got away.
At 56 km, just after a first passage over the Broekstraat, a group of 5 riders managed to get away from the bunch along the Albert Canal. Belgium’s Kelly Van den Steen (Duolar-Chevalmeire), who launched the attack, was joined by Fouquenet (Arkéa Pro Cycling Team), Van der Wolf (Lifeplus Wahoo), De Clercq (Lotto Dstny Ladies) and Boilard (St Michel–Mavic-Auber93). The peloton let up and by the first passage over the line on the Churchillaan, the group already had a lead of half a minute.
Ruetschi (AG Insurance-NXTG U23 Team) and Van de Vel (Fenix-Deceuninck) then went in search of the head of the race. They managed to bridge the gap and joined the leading group. With one lap to go, the escapees had extended their lead to one and a half minutes.
And then the sprinters’ teams started to get to work. UAE Team ADQ upped the pace in the peloton and on the final passage over the cobblestones of Broekstraat we had a regrouping. With 5 km to go, Fenix-Deceuninck and SD Worx also brought their sprinters into position. It was Wiebes who went for it on the Churchilllaan with 250 m to go. She held on to finish narrowly ahead of challenger Kool. Consonni took third spot on the podium. Wiebes thus made it 3 wins in 3 editions in Schoten.
