On the day:

We woke up Sunday morning to heavy winds and rain.  It looked like it was going to be a miserable, ‘tough girl’ day.  However, by the time we started, the sun had poked out of the clouds, and the roads were relatively dry.  It was still cool and windy, but what else do you expect in this area in April?!  Since I had arrived from California the day before (with the 9 hr time difference creating a little bit of mental fogginess,) I was thankful for the dry conditions. 

The race itself is a true classic.  It follows the final 112km of the men’s race, covering the same final 12 climbs and the same cobbled sections.  The roads are lined with countless cheering spectators.  It’s quite fun to race in such an atmosphere.

The first climb, the Molenberg, is steep, narrow, and cobbled, and it comes only 30 km into the race.  There is not a lot of room for error here.  Unfortunately, there was a crash toward the front of the peloton forcing most girls (80%??, me included) to dismount and walk.  It was quite crazy, and it created some early splits.  Thankfully, Loes was one of the first over the top, so we were represented.  By the end of the long flat cobble section that followed, I had managed to fight back to the front group.  From this point on, the group remained relatively small, and at that moment all Buitenpoort-Flexpoint riders were present.  With 6 out of 30-40 riders, I knew that we had the ability to take control and race for a victory.

Somewhere between that realization and Linda’s upcoming attack, I exchanged some words with Tas and Mir in order to get their thoughts on the race.  Eventually, the pace of our group slowed, and Linda made a great attack.  This was perfect as it increased the pace, and took us to the base of the Eikenberg climb, another cobbled beauty.  I moved to the front just before the start with Sus on my wheel and Mir somewhere nearby.  It was nice to see this climb on the front as I could choose my lines (or cobbles.)  I tried to keep the tempo up here.  I continued up, down, and across multiple times while the terrain was favorable and the roads were narrow, still trying to keep the tempo up in order to prevent the other teams from recovering.  As we got onto a wider rode, I started to back off the pace.  As I eased off, Kim A attacked.  Mir was in perfect position to follow.  A group of 4 or 5, including Mir, went up the road.  There wasn’t much of a reaction from the group so the break was quickly established.  This was perfect for us.  Mir was up the road, while the rest of us remained back to try and control and discourage the chase. 

Eventually, Mir attacked her group and rode solo for about 30k.  However, about 2k from the finish, Soeder managed to bridge back to her.  The finish came down to a sprint which Mirjam took for the victory!!! 

Meanwhile, in the group behind her a small group including Susanne and Loes broke off over the Muur.  Again, this was good.  Personally, I settled a little too much before this climb, and unfortunately was too far back to try and go with the move.  I worked up enough to see it a few seconds ahead, however, I decided to wait for the group behind.  I knew that I had two mates in that group, and I didn’t want to encourage any sort of chase.  I got picked up before the final climb and cruised in with this bunch. 

Loes ended up 3^rd and Susanne 7^th.  Ina won the sprint for 11^th in my group.  This allowed her to keep the overall world cup leader’s jersey.

Overall, it was a spectacular day for Buitenpoort-Flexpoint.  Two podium spots, including the win, while another was in the top 10.  Nice.  I don’t know where I ended up, but my purpose today was achievedJ!

Photos posted in gallery.

Benny took some cool photos of the cobbles on Molenberg and the scene around the Muur-Kapelmuur.  There’s also some photos from the race.