The Ardennes drew to a close on Sunday afternoon at Liège – Bastogne – Liège Femmes, where the Women’s peloton were faced with a rolling day in the saddle and multiple challenging climbs to tackle before they made their way to the finish in Liège.
Setting out with a plan, the squad aimed to look after finisher Juliette Labous for as long as possible but also aimed to anticipate any pre-final moves. Unfortunately, the team missed a strong eight rider group that went clear so instead kept their focus on supporting Labous. Coming into the final 30 kilometres those out front still held a promising advantage of three minutes which made for a solid pace in the bunch over climbs such as La Redoute. Onto the last categorised climb of Roche-aux-Faucons, the hammer went down in the bunch and three riders broke clear, bridging up to the remaining three breakaway riders. Labous dug deep and found herself in a chasing group but they would never make it back to those out front. Heading into the finish and the sprint, Labous chose her wheel wisely and showed a good turn of pace to get up and take second from her group – making for a good eight place finish on the day.
Speaking after the race Labous said: “It was quite a long race as the start wasn’t so hard actually. Unfortunately, when the big break went we made some mistakes at that moment and weren’t it. Then Eglantine and Francesca chased to make sure the gap wasn’t too big. We expected a few of the other teams to ride to close the gap and nothing really happened. It was hard on La Redoute but then it was quite slow after that so it made it really explosive on Roche-aux-Faucons. I didn’t miss too much to make it to the front with the three, so it’s a bit disappointing but then it is also not a shame because they are the three best puncheurs at the moment. I stayed with Vos and tried to do my best sprint, which I think I did, so ended up with eight place. It’s a nice top ten but of course we wanted more so we will keep on working for the next goals.”
