Gent-Wevelgem 2020 [FULL RACE] (ladies)

October 11, 2020

Gent-Wevelgem 2020 – Ieper – Wevelgem : 141,4 km

The truncated, revised season sees the events rescheduled to take place in October, with Gent-Wevelgem positioned first of the cobbled Classics, where Wild is tentatively scheduled to defend her title on Sunday. The race is expected to once again attract the best Classics riders and sprinters because of its ‘flatter’ 145.4km parcours held between the Menin Gate in Ypres and Wevelgem. The race is expected to be similar to last year’s, with several main climbs beginning with the Scherpenberg (61km), Vidaignberg (65km), Beneberg (67km), and Monteberg (74km). The riders will then tackle the Monteberg for a second time at 104km, and lastly the Kemelberg (400m with an average gradient of 14 per cent) at 106km, en route to the finish in Wevelgem.

Jolien D’hoore (Boels Dolmans) has won the women’s edition of Gent-Wevelgem. A strong group of 11 riders formed on the Kemmelberg with 35km to go and just held off the chasing peloton on the road to Wevelgem.

After several attacks on the run-in were reeled in, Belgian champion Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal) launched the sprint but was passed by D’hoore shortly before the finish. Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit-WNT) rounded out the podium.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s unbelievable”, D’hoore said after her first Gent-Wevelgem victory, following two second places in 2017 and 2018. “I know that the course suits me, I felt good during the race and got over the Kemmelberg with the first group. I had Amy Pieters with me in that front group, she did a perfect job today. I am so happy that I could win in this special season, it is always nice and takes the pressure off.”

D’hoore explained how her recent training helped her to victory: “The last month, I did a lot of intervals and climbing, hoping that I can survive the climbs in the Tour of Flanders. That really paid off today. In the final, I tried to save myself for the sprint, I knew I couldn’t start the sprint too early, but luckily Amy was there and reminded me to stay calm.”

How it unfolded

Defending champion Kirsten Wild did not start the race after testing positive for COVID-19 while the Alé Cipollini team was also absent because of a virus case in their squad.

The race started at the Menin Gate in Ypres, a memorial to the victims of World War I. The peloton had to negotiate seven climbs and three gravel sections known as Plugstreets as well as westerly winds.

There were numerous attempts to establish a breakaway in the opening part of the race. However, none of the groups ever held an advantage of more than 30 seconds, and the first climb of the day, the Scherpenberg, spelled the end of the early breakaways.

On the following climbs of the Vidaigneberg, Baneberg, and Monteberg, the race stayed together, though riders were dropped at the back of the peloton. The first ascent of the Kemmelberg further reduced the size of the peloton.

The unsealed Plugstreets strung out the race even further, with the peloton in single file and gaps appearing, but the pace at the front fell again in the headwind on the way to the last two climbs, and many riders could get back to the front.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) put in an acceleration on the Monteberg, but her move was immediately closed down. Brennauer and then Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) pushed the pace up the Kemmelberg, splitting the peloton and leading to a small group at the top. A crash by Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb) on the narrow descent split this group in two, but they reunited to form a front group of eleven.

Van Dijk, Longo Borghini, Lizzie Deignan (all Trek-Segafredo), Pieters, D’hoore, Vollering (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Marta Cavalli (Valcar-Travel & Service), Lauren Stephens (Tibco-SVB), Kopecky, Sarah Roy (Mitchelton-Scott), and Brennauer worked well together and built an advantage of over 30 seconds to a chasing group of 23 riders.

Even though Team Sunweb, CCC-Liv, and Canyon-SRAM all worked hard in the chase group, the gap stayed stable for a long time before finally getting smaller to 22 seconds as the race entered the final ten kilometres. In Menin, 7km from the finish, the gap was down to only 15 seconds.

On the run-in to Wevelgem, there were several attacks from the front group, but neither Van Dijk nor Longo Borghini or Pieters could get away and finally, everyone readied themselves for the sprint. The chase group had the leaders in sight on the final kilometre, but it was clear that the winner would come from the front group.

Pieters did an acceleration on the left side of the road, forcing Kopecky to react and start her sprint early. The Belgian champion had a good turn of speed and pulled away from most of the other riders. But D’hoore sat in her wheel and came past Kopecky on the final 100 metres to win.

With an eighth place, Deignan defended her lead in the UCI Women’s WorldTour ahead of the Tour of Flanders. Lippert continues to lead the Women’s WorldTour U23 ranking.

Results :
1 Jolien D`Hoore (Bel) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 3:33:15
2 Lotte Kopecky (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
3 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
4 Sarah Roy (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
5 Marta Cavalli (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
6 Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
7 Demi Vollering (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
8 Elizabeth Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo Women
9 Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 0:00:05
10 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo Women 0:00:08
11 Lorena Wiebes (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
12 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
13 Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
14 Emma Cecilie Norsgaard Jørgensen (Den) Equipe Paule Ka
15 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
16 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing
17 Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
18 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
19 Jelena Eric (Srb) Movistar Team Women
20 Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) CCC-Liv
21 Grace Brown (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
22 Riejanne Markus (Ned) CCC-Liv
23 Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
24 Aude Biannic (Fra) Movistar Team Women
25 Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
26 Ellen Van Dijk (Ned) Trek-Segafredo Women
27 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Equipe Paule Ka
28 Valerie Demey (Bel) CCC-Liv
29 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Canyon-Sram Racing
30 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Equipe Paule Ka 0:00:23
31 Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:28
32 Alison Jackson (Can) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:40
33 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Canyon-Sram Racing
34 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv 0:02:04
35 Diana Klimova (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro 0:03:48
36 Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
37 Julie Leth (Den) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
38 Lily Williams (USA) Rally Cycling Women
39 Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women’s Team
40 Julia Borgström (Swe) NXTG Racing
41 Katia Ragusa (Ita) Astana Women’s Team
42 Lonneke Uneken (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
43 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
44 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
45 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
46 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
47 Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women
48 Abby-Mae Parkinson (GBr) Lotto Soudal Ladies
49 Vita Heine (Nor) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
50 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Rally Cycling Women
51 Nicole Steigenga (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport 0:05:46
52 Valeriya Kononenko (Ukr) Ciclotel
53 Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-Sram Racing
54 Anouska Koster (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
55 Danielle Christmas (GBr) Lotto Soudal Ladies
56 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Equipe Paule Ka
57 Sharlotte Lucas (NZl) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
58 Maëlle Grossetete (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
59 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Lotto Soudal Ladies
60 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
61 Evy Kuijpers (Ned) CCC-Liv
62 Liane Lippert (Ger) Team Sunweb Women
63 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing
64 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Equipe Paule Ka
65 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
66 Natalie Van Gogh (Ned) Chevalmeire 0:08:12
67 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb Women
68 Eva Buurman (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
69 Marit Raaijmakers (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
70 Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro 0:09:21
71 Franziska Koch (Ger) Team Sunweb Women
72 Mieke Kröger (Ger) Hitec Products-Birk Sport 0:10:33
73 Olga Shekel (Ukr) Astana Women’s Team
74 Kelly Van den Steen (Bel) Chevalmeire
75 Kylie Waterreus (Ned) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies
76 Céline Van Houtum (Ned) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies
77 Marieke Van Witzenburg (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
78 Olha Kulynych (Ukr) Ciclotel
79 Nathalie Bex (Bel) Chevalmeire
80 Alice Sharpe (Irl) Ciclotel
81 Ann-Sophie Duyck (Bel) Parkhotel Valkenburg
82 Leah Dixon (GBr) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
83 Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
84 Marie Soleil Blais (Can) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
85 Charlotte Kool (Ned) NXTG Racing
86 Esther Van Veen (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
87 Minke Bakker (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
88 Christina Schweinberger (Aut) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
89 Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling Women
90 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
91 Sarah Rijkes (Aut) Ceratizit-WNT Pro
92 Kathrin Schweinberger (Aut) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
93 Emily Newsom (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
94 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
95 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Movistar Team Women
96 Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Movistar Team Women
97 Alba Teruel Ribes (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:10:40
98 Audrey Cordon Ragot (Fra) Trek-Segafredo Women
99 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo Women 0:10:45
100 Roxane Fournier (Fra) Chevalmeire Cycling Team
101 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott Women
102 Hanna Johansson (Swe) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies 0:19:00
103 Noemi Rüegg (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro 0:19:03
104 Jessica Allen (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women
105 Jessica Roberts (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott Women
106 Maria Vittoria Sperotto (Ita) Equipe Paule Ka
DNF Annabel Fisher (GBr) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
DNF Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Lisa Klein (Ger) Canyon-Sram Racing
DNF Shannon Malseed (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Fien Delbaere (Bel) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies
DNF Blanca Liliana Moreno Canchon (Col) Astana Women’s Team
DNF Kirstie Van Haaften (Ned) Ciclotel
DNF Iuliia Galimullina (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro
DNF Leigh Ann Ganzar (USA) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Emma White (USA) Rally Cycling Women
DNF Sara Van de Vel (Bel) Ciclotel
DNF Emily Wadsworth (GBr) NXTG Racing
DNF Lara Defour (Bel) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies
DNF Cathalijne Hoolwerf (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Victoire Berteau (Fra) Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
DNF Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo Women
DNF Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Silje Mathisen (Nor) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Greta Richioud (Fra) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
DNF Danique Braam (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Anna Badegruber (Aut) Multum Accountants-LSK Ladies
DNF Lucy Van der Haar (GBr) Hitec Products-Birk Sport
DNF Francesca Pattaro (Ita) Astana Women’s Team
DNS Thalita De Jong (Ned) Chevalmeire
DNS Kim De Baat (Bel) Ciclotel