Charlotte Kool continued a strong spring campaign for herself and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL with fourth place at Gent-Wevelgem as the race came down to a reduced bunch sprint finish. The team worked well during a testing day of crosswinds and climbs to be in contention throughout with Pfeiffer Georgi going clear in a strong break over the day’s climbs before the race came back together and culminated in a sprint.
A big solo attack in the final kilometres meant the team had to dig deep and open the lead out early to bring it back as first Franziska Koch then Georgi led from the front to set Kool up to open up her sprint. In the end it was just off the podium for Kool and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL but a strong showing of teamwork all race.
Kool commented after the finish: “It was not an easy edition of Gent-Wevelgem but the team was on fire, being everywhere we needed to be. We entered the Muur and all the dangerous points in the crosswinds at the front. Then the girls did amazing in positioning us for the climbs, we always entered the climbs first so that was really impressive. To be honest I didn’t have the best legs of my life but that was a good thing today because I kept on fighting and knew I had to pace it because for a sprinter it’s easy to blow up. I saw on the last time up the Kemmelberg I was in a group with Balsamo which was good because I knew Lidl-Trek would ride and Pfeiffer was always there in front putting the pressure on. So I think we raced really well.
“Then in the final we made a mistake by coming too early. I’m not sure if it would have been for the win but I think we lost a podium for sure by going too soon. Then I got squeezed and had to stop my sprint which was a bit of a shame as otherwise we had a perfect day. But I’m happy I surprised and bigger things are coming I hope.”