Going into the race as defending champion, Charlotte Kool sprinted to a good fifth place for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL at today’s opening stage of Ride London. With only two riders on the road, it was a relatively easy day in the peloton and the duo was brought back with 15 kilometers to go. Despite some late counterattacks, everything came back together for a big bunch sprint. The Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL riders were in great position all day and were in the front going into the technical final two kilometres. There, they got blocked a bit and had to dig deep to get back into position. Pfeiffer Georgi dropped Charlotte in a solid position and she opened her sprint early on the uphill sprint. She ran out of gas coming to the line, still finishing in a good fifth place for the team.
Speaking after the stage Kool explained: “Today we raced really good as a unit throughout the day. We had a clear plan coming into the final but we made some mistakes that cost us our good position. I had to sprint twice, I gave it my absolute everything but came too short today. Tomorrow we have a new chance and we will go for it.”