23 April - Race Report
Ronde van Gelderland - 1.2 (W)
report and images courtesy of womenscycling.net ©
Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) recovered from a wrong turn which saw her and fellow race leader, Chantal Beltman (T-Mobile) go off course to win a mass sprint at the end of the 140km Ronde van Gelderland. The win maintained a 100% Dutch record in the fifth women's tour of Gelderland in the Netherlands.
The race was basically flat until the final third of the race, when there were several climbs to be negotiated by the large bunch. The key break was made on the first climb, where Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) led up the climb and took a group which grew to eleven with her. The main teams were represented : DSB Bank, T-Mobile, Team Flexpoint, AA Drink, TEAm Lipton, Ton van Bemmelen, Lotto Belisol. The group quickly gained a 30 seconds gap, which grew in just a few minutes to over two minutes.
It was at this advantage, that Vos and Beltman were in the lead and at a roundabout, turned in the wrong direction, left not right. Their lead turned into a battle to regain the race through the convoy. Once they'd realised their mistake and turned, they were left with no choice but to chase back into the race. Vos was quickly back in the bunch, but Beltman suffered further bad luck, crashing out and retired.
The pair's teams, DSB Bank and T-Mobile still had options even with the pair behind the break. 2005 winner, Suzanne De Goede was in the break for T-Mobile and Andrea Bosman for DSB Bank. In addition, with Vos and Teutenberg in the bunch, catching the break would allow the sprinters to do their work......
With about 25km to go, the bunch brought back the remaining nine leaders. The race was set for a mass sprint. The wide open and slightly downhill Loolaan provided a great finishing straight. As the riders turned into the avenue, they were already accelerating hard. Spread across the road, several riders were in contention as they passed 100m to go. Vos and Teutenberg were relatively close together and battling for the win, whilst Markerink was on the right hand side of the road and sprinting hard.
With about 30m to go, Vos seemed to kick again, edging her wheel ahead. She maintained her advantage over the line, not celebrating until she was well over and the win was definitely safe.
Vos also won the under 23 competition and now leads a Dutch race series which includes four races throughout the season.
Full Results
1 Marianne Vos (Ned) Team DSB Bank 3.33.21
2 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3 Loes Markerink (Ned) TeamFlexpoint
4 Martine Bras (Ned) Lotto - Belisol Ladiesteam
5 Kirsten Wild (Ned) AA-Drink Cycling Team
6 Brooke Miller (USA) USA Cycling National Team
7 Liesbeth De Vocht (Bel) Lotto - Belisol Ladiesteam
8 Editha Janeliunaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team
9 Christine Mos (Ned) Team DSB Bank
10 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) TeamFlexpoint
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93 Sara Carrigan (Aus) Lotto - Belisol Ladiesteam 0.52
Teams
1 Team DSB-Bank 10.40.03
2 Lotto-Belisol Ladiesteam
3 Team Flexpoint
4 AA-Drink Cycling Team
5 Ton van Bemmelen/Odysis