Vollering beats Niewiadoma-Phinney at the finish
After a decisive acceleration on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the victory in the opening classic was decided in a two-rider sprint. European champion Demi Vollering was faster than Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney and sprinted convincingly to the win. Dutch champion Lorena Wiebes was the fastest in the chasing group.
The women’s race started at 13:35 in Ghent, covering 137 km towards Ninove. After 14 km, a group of four riders broke away: Teutenberg (Lotto Intermarché Ladies), Fortin (Cofidis Women Team), De Grave, and Van den Eijnden (Citymesh-CUSTOMM Pro Cycling Team).
A reduced peloton of around 50 riders approached the finale in a compact formation. At 35 km from the finish, a new breakaway of four formed: Berton (EF Education-Oatly), Chabbey (FDJ United-Suez), Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ), and Aasebø (Uno-X Mobility). Shortly after, Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek) bridged across.
As with the men earlier in the day, tension was high in the women’s peloton. Zoë Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) was one of the victims of a crash approaching the Muur van Geraardsbergen. On this penultimate climb, the early break was quickly caught, helped by the pace set by Koch (FDJ United-Suez) in the chase.
She was riding for her leader, Demi Vollering, who then took the initiative on the Muur. At the top, the European champion had only Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) alongside her. Meanwhile, Lotte Kopecky was at the back during the climb.
The two leaders rode together towards the Bosberg, the final climb of the day. They worked well together until Ninove, and the sprint ultimately decided the winner. Vollering led out the sprint and took a convincing victory. In the sprint of the chasing group, Lorena Wiebes claimed the final podium spot.
