Tiffany Cromwell, road captain for CANYON//SRAM Racing at today’s Gent Wevelgem gives the report on the Women’s World Tour race. The team’s leader for the day was Hannah Barnes who finished in eighteenth place in the sprint into Wevelgem, with the race won by Marianne Vos (JVW).

“The last forty kilometres of the race were hard. We kept to our plan that we would do the sprint for Hannah. When the front three groups came back together after the last time up Kemmelberg climb, and we had four riders there, we were in a good situation.”

“A Jumbo-Visma rider went away and initially I didn’t feel we should be the ones chasing when teams had stronger sprinters there. But it was a tail wind and, after talking to Hannah who confirmed she was feeling good, we decided to get things moving in the bunch with a bit of a chase. Other teams eventually committed also.”

“Then there was a slight lull and we had a moment where we were all towards the back making our plan for the final. We hit a roundabout and I saw Trek-Segafredo go to the front and put it in the gutter on the exit. We got caught out and we went from a strong position of four riders in the front group, to none.”

“It was a big mistake on our side and we needed to correct the situation so I called for Kasia (Niewiadoma), myself and Elise (Chabbey) to chase, keeping Hannah for the sprint. A couple of other teams missed out, so we had some help. We got most of the group back but by then two riders had gone up the road. Elise said she didn’t have much left so Kasia and I took the responsibility and we committed fully.”

“We brought it back for a bunch sprint but Kasia and I had nothing left to help Hannah. It didn’t come together for her in the end.”

“We should not have missed that move at twenty kilometres to go. We could have used that energy for a lead out or we could have gone on the attack in the final kilometres and use our numbers. As a team we didn’t achieve the result we were aiming for, even though we committed each time to put ourselves in the position to contend the win.”

“For me personally, I was pretty happy with my race. I felt strong today and though I knew the winds would be my biggest battle, I was happy I was always there for any echelons. First time over the Kemmelberg I was just behind the first split and it quickly came back so that gave me confidence for the second time. Then, I was almost cramping on the lead up climb but fought through it and came over the Kemmelberg third group on the road. The gaps were small and I benefited from those teams that didn’t have anyone in front.”

“I was pleased to be able to support and help guide the team in the final thirty kilometres. I definitely got everything out of myself today and it’s good to be back at the business end of the race.”

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