Wiebes Wins In Flanders Fields Women for Third Consecutive Year With Attacking Display
Lorena Wiebes confirmed her status as the dominant force in In Flanders Fields with a third consecutive victory, this time producing an attacking ride over the Kemmelberg that defied the expectations of those who had marked her purely as a sprinter. Fleur Moors finished second from the reduced group, with Karlijn Swinkels completing the podium.
The SD Worx-Protime sprinter had been the clear pre-race favourite, and rivals set their tactics around preventing a bunch sprint. But Wiebes had other ideas. On the final ascent of the Kemmelberg, she accelerated away from the peloton with a burst of power that immediately split the field, creating a select group of around fifteen riders that quickly established a gap over the shattered remains of the bunch.
From there, Wiebes controlled the race with the confidence of a rider who knew she held every card. With her SD Worx-Protime teammates blocking behind, the Dutch champion refused to panic as the gap fluctuated in the crosswinds of West Flanders. When the reduced group arrived in Wevelgem, Wiebes had the sprint speed to comfortably hold off Moors and Swinkels, crossing the line with a bike length to spare.
The hat-trick places Wiebes alongside cycling's great serial winners and further cements her evolution from pure sprinter to all-round Classics contender. Her ability to survive the Kemmelberg — a climb that has traditionally been her weakness — showed the work she has put in during the off-season. With the Tour of Flanders now just one week away, Wiebes will be a dark horse if the race comes down to a reduced sprint in Oudenaarde.
In the men's race held later in the day, Jasper Philipsen won the sprint after a bold two-man attack from Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert was caught in the closing kilometres, with Tobias Lund Andresen second and Christophe Laporte third.