Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s Lauren Kitchen finished safely at the front end of the peloton at the end of the Dwars door de Westhoek, in Boezinge, near Ypres, West Flanders, but preferred not to take too many risks in the sprint so soon after recovering from illness. The 124.7km race was made up of a 79km loop, followed by four laps of an 11.6km circuit and finished in a mass bunch sprint.
“Lauren came to me and said she felt terrible at the beginning but came around towards the end, but the sprint was just chaotic so she backed out of it a little bit,” explained Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling directeur sportif Simon Cope. “I don’t know whether she’d have been right up there, but she might have been better but. She’s done well though, as she’s come back from an illness two days on the trot.”
The race was won by Belgian champion Jolien D’hoore (Lotto-Belisol) in a bunch sprint on the cobbled finishing straight, with Martine Bras (Boels-Dolmans) second, and Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) third.
With Joanna Rowsell the latest member of Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling to come down with illness, the team started the race with one rider fewer than most other teams. The team was soon down to four after rider/manager Rochelle Gilmore succumbed to allergies brought on by dust off the Belgian fields.
“I think there’s a few tired legs from yesterday,” said Cope. “We started with five anyway, because Jo’s sick, then Rochelle dropped out after 20km because of her allergies. The other three are still learning. How to stay at the front; you need to be at the front because it makes life easier. It’s all learning, and that’s what we’ll take from it.
“We had two very young development riders with Elinor Barker and Amy Roberts in there,” he added, “and when you only start with five – and you lose one after 20km – you can’t expect a massive result.”
Result
1. Jolien D’hoore (Lotto-Belisol)
2. Martine Bras (Boels-Dolmans)
3. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
34. Lauren Kitchen
71. Mayuko Hagiwara
108. Elinor Barker
