Brabantse Pijl 2020 [FULL RACE] (ladies)

October 7, 2020

Brabantse Pijl 2020 WE – Sint-Kwintens-Lennik – Overijse : 121,9 km

The Brabantse Pijl Women’s race was rescheduled from its usual April time slot to October because of the coronavirus pandemic but offers a prime opportunity for powerful sprinters or aggressive climbers to take a victory on the uphill run to the line in Overijse. The women are enjoying their fifth edition of the UCI 1.1-ranked race and the first time using the same finish as the elite men, whose race is classified as 1.Pro. The 121.9km route includes a 18 climbs plus the uphill finish.

Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott) stormed to the line to take victory in Brabantse Pijl Dames with a long-range attack on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old Australian, who left it too late in Liège-Bastogne-Liège before finishing second, made no mistake this time around, attacking with 17km remaining and winning solo. Liane Lippert and Floortje Mackaij mounted a late chase but the Sunweb pair were unable to eat into Brown’s advantage and were forced to settle for second and third, respectively. Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal Ladies) won the reduced bunch sprint for fourth.

“It is pretty exciting to cross the line first for my first time in Europe. I took confidence from Sunday into today’s race and I think that really helped me. I have made a bit of a jump in this last week which is really cool,” Brown said.

“On that final lap I just saw an opportunity when girls where attacking and there was a bit of confusion and I just decided to attack and go for it.”

After a number of early attacks, the race burst into life when Margarita Victoria Garcia Cañellas (Ale’ BTC Ljubljana) and Katia Ragusa (Astana Women’s Team) broke free with just under 50km remaining over the demanding course. The pair established a small lead as they approached the Hagaard climb with 42km to go but strong work from Sunweb and Trek ensured that they were caught with 39 remaining as Sunweb looked to break the peloton to pieces on the cobbled climbs that littered the route.

Sunweb once more accelerated on the next climb of the Holstheide but it was US national road champion Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) who put in the most powerful move, just as the climb peaked out. The American was unable to create a significant gap but her efforts reduced the bunch to less than 25 riders before Lauren Stephens (Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) put in a huge attack just after with 29km to go.

Stephens quickly established a lead of over 30 seconds, and she briefly had Mitchelton-Scott and Trek-Segafredo scrambling for allies as the lead continued to grow. Even when the peloton had Stephens in their sights she kept her lead at just a few seconds as she used her time trial skills to good effect on the few flatter sections of the race. However when the peloton finally had the American within touching distance Brown put in a significant attack that burnt off the rest of the field and quickly saw her latch onto Stephens.

The Tibco rider made a mistake coming to a tight right-hand corner just as Brown made contact, and subsequently lost all of her momentum as the road began to once more climb. Brown charged up the climb with 17km to go, leaving a struggling Stephens in her wake as she quickly established her winning lead. With 14km remaining, and Stephens back in the peloton, Brown had 23 seconds over the chasers but there was still enough firepower to mount a recovery with Sunweb well represented.

“When I got across to Stephens it was on a cobbled section and she tried to ride the gutter and then was struggling to come across to me and completely lost momentum, so I decided to just go,” Brown said.

On the Moskesstraatt the lead leveled out at 25 seconds with Lippert attacking and going clear. She was unable to cut down Brown’s advantage however, and when Mackaij broke free of the next group on the road Lippert eased off and waited for her teammate.

Despite the assistance, the Sunweb pair were unable to match Brown’s pace with the Australian able to take the biggest European win of her career.

“Into the final, I heard that the Sunweb riders were trying to come across and I was getting time gaps and it was sort of the opposite of Sunday in Liège,” Brown said.

“The time was coming down and I was pretty on the limit but once we hit the headwind it started to go out again, so I felt pretty confident then with just a few kilometres left to finish.”

Results :
1 Grace Brown (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women 3:03:39
2 Liane Lippert (Ger) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:47
3 Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:51
4 Lotte Kopecky (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies 0:01:19
5 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
6 Rasa Leleivyte (Ltu) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano
7 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT
8 Katia Ragusa (Ita) Astana Women’s Team
9 Margarita Victoria Garcia Cañellas (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
10 Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
11 Kristen Faulkner (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
12 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Canyon-Sram Racing
13 Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women’s Team
14 Vita Heine (Nor) Hitec Products-Birk Sport 0:01:24
15 Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
16 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
17 Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
18 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT
19 Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro 0:01:27
20 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb Women 0:01:29
21 Sarah Roy (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
22 Hannah Ludwig (Ger) Canyon-Sram Racing
23 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT
24 Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
25 Diana Klimova (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
26 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo Women 0:01:38
27 Maëlle Grossetete (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:01:39
28 Letizia Borghesi (Ita) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano 0:01:54
29 Eri Yonamine (Jpn) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
30 Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
31 Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo Women
32 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Rally Cycling Women 0:02:08
33 Susanne Andersen (Nor) Team Sunweb Women 0:03:27
34 Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Team Sunweb Women
35 Franziska Koch (Ger) Team Sunweb Women 0:03:29
36 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott Women 0:03:33
37 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing 0:03:35
38 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:03:43
39 Sara Van de Vel (Bel) Ciclotel
40 Olga Shekel (Ukr) Astana Women’s Team
41 Natalie Van Gogh (Ned) Chevalmeire
42 Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
43 Danique Braam (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
44 Christina Schweinberger (Aut) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
45 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Chevalmeire
46 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
47 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Lotto Soudal Ladies
48 Abby-Mae Parkinson (GBr) Lotto Soudal Ladies
49 Iuliia Galimullina (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
50 Julia Borgström (Swe) NXTG Racing
51 Valeriya Kononenko (Ukr) Ciclotel
52 Laura Asencio (Fra) Ceratizit-WNT 0:03:56
53 Jessica Pratt (Aus) Canyon-Sram Racing
54 Lisa Klein (Ger) Canyon-Sram Racing
55 Kelly Van den Steen (Bel) Chevalmeire
56 Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
57 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
58 Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
59 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
60 Federica Piergiovanni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
61 Romy Kasper (Ger) Parkhotel Valkenburg
62 Roxane Fournier (Fra) Chevalmeire
63 Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek-Segafredo Women
64 Fien Delbaere (Bel) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie 0:04:12
65 Sharlotte Lucas (NZl) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:06:21
66 Anna Plichta (Pol) Trek-Segafredo Women
67 Marie Soleil Blais (Can) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
68 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo Women
69 Marit Raaijmakers (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
70 Leigh Ann Ganzar (USA) Rally Cycling Women
71 Alice Sharpe (Irl) Ciclotel
72 Lily Williams (USA) Rally Cycling Women
73 Céline Van Houtum (Ned) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie 0:07:28
74 Olha Kulynych (Ukr) Ciclotel
DNF Claire Faber (Lux) Illi-Bikes
DNF Femke Markus (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
DNF Lauren Kitchen (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
DNF Jessica Allen (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
DNF Samantha Hargreaves (Can) Illi-Bikes
DNF Gracie Elvin (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
DNF Jessica Roberts (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott Women
DNF Charlotte Kool (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Cathalijne Hoolwerf (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Emily Wadsworth (GBr) NXTG Racing
DNF Maud Rijnbeek (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Leah Dixon (GBr) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Thalita De Jong (Ned) Chevalmeire
DNF Christa Riffel (Ger) Canyon-Sram Racing
DNF Amber Van der Hulst (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
DNF Ditte Lenseclaes (Bel) Illi-Bikes
DNF Sylvie Swinkels (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
DNF Lien Lanssens (Bel) Illi-Bikes
DNF Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo Women
DNF Emma White (USA) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Maaike Boogaard (Ned) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
DNF Victorie Guilman (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
DNF Lara Defour (Bel) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie
DNF Mieke Kröger (Ger) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Kim De Baat (Bel) Ciclotel
DNF Ingrid Lorvik (Nor) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Greta Richioud (Fra) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Lucy Van der Haar (GBr) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Noemi Rüegg (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
DNF Kirstie Van Haaften (Ned) Ciclotel
DNF Annabel Fisher (GBr) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
DNF Martine Gjøs (Nor) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Hanna Johansson (Swe) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie
DNF Victoire Berteau (Fra) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Margaux Vigie (Fra) Valcar-Travel & Service
DNF Zsófia Szabó (Hun) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Lone Meertens (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Mette Egtoft Jensen (Den) Illi-Bikes
DNF Kylie Waterreus (Ned) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie
DNF Francesca Pattaro (Ita) Astana Women’s Team
DNF Jade Teolis (Fra) Astana Women’s Team
DNF Giulia Marchesini (Ita) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano
DNF Kathrin Schweinberger (Aut) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Sofia Collinelli (Ita) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano
DNF Carmela Cipriani (Ita) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano
DNF Anastasia Carbonari (Ita) Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano
DNF Anna Badegruber (Aut) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladie
DNF Fien van Eynde (Bel) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Minke Bakker (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Shannon Malseed (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNS Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) CCC-Liv
DNS Marta Jaskulska (Pol) CCC-Liv
DNS Evy Kuijpers (Ned) CCC-Liv
DNS Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv
DNS Valerie Demey (Bel) CCC-Liv
DNS Marianne Vos (Ned) CCC-Liv