Giorgia Bronzini was Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s best finisher in the tenth edition of the women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen – the third round of the 2013 World Cup – as the former World champion sprinted to 13th as part of a big peloton that finished 4’33” behind the winning group. The result, which matches that of Lauren Kitchen in last week’s Trofeo Alfredo Binda, earns Bronzini eight points in the World Cup classification, and lifts Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling into the top ten of the team rankings.
“Our goal was the top ten, and Giorgia wasn’t that far away,” said Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling directeur sportif Simon Cope. “I think she did a really good ride for the course, as it’s not her type of course at all.
“It was unlucky in some respects,” Cope added. “We lost Lauren early on, due to a crash; then Ana-Bianca Schnitzmeier crashed as well, but she made her way back up. She had such a long chase, but when she got back she did a really good job for Giorgia.
“We didn’t do anything wrong, there were just a lot of crashes and we were a little bit unlucky,” he added. “On the whole it was a very good performance.”
Current World champion Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) won the race ahead of Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-lululemon) and Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) after the three of them escaped with Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec Products) on the climb of the Oude Kwaremont with just over 25km to go.
