The final day of racing at Baloise Ladies Tour saw another stage where a sprint finish was expected into Deinze. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set out with a plan to protect second on GC with Pfeiffer Georgi, and then go for the stage result with Charlotte Kool as sprint finisher. It was a controlled start to the day with no real breakaway allowed to go clear, but as the race progressed into the latter half then a seven rider move went clear. With no threats to Georgi’s second place on GC, they took the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, before the team helped to bring them back. Managing things in the finale, the team were alert to any counter attacks with Megan Jastrab marking out a few moves. With the finish approaching, the team moved forward en masse but in the hectic run-in through the twists and turns things became disjointed and Kool got blocked in. Eventually finding a gap, Kool managed to open up her sprint and finished fast for third place on the day; while Georgi secured second overall.
Speaking after the finish Kool said: “Today I felt not great to be honest. We tried to protect the second place in GC with Pfeiffer and for that we had to commit and go all in to chase a dangerous move, Megan was outstanding today. Then in the final we lost each other a bit and I had to come from real far back in the sprint for third place. In the end it wasn’t our best day but I’m happy we could secure the second place with Pfeiffer in the GC and we can finish the week in a good way.”
