After yesterday’s stage, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set out on Saturday afternoon to defend Franziska Koch’s race lead and go for the expected sprint finish into Doetinchem with Charlotte Kool. Riding cohesively as a unit from the start, the team were alert to any dangerous attacks and kept tabs on things throughout the day. One lone breakaway rider managed to forge clear but as they were no immediate danger to the race lead, the team looked at others who wanted a sprint to close things down.
The gap was reduced as the kilometres ticked by as a result of attack-after-attack in the peloton, but Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were always sharp and represented; anchoring each move. Coming into the final ten kilometres it was all back together and the team looked to set up their sprint train but an unfortunate coming together in the peloton saw Charlotte Kool go down in a crash; resulting in her abandoning the race ahead of tomorrow’s final stage. The rest of the team managed to avoid the crash and Rachele Barbieri would lead home the squad in ninth place with Franziska Koch just behind, holding onto the race lead ahead of tomorrow’s final stage.
Koch said: “The girls did an amazing job keeping me safe throughout the whole day. We were always in control of the situations and followed the attacks, so we could hold onto the race lead which was nice. Charlotte’s crash in the final is of course a big disappointment, and I hope she is okay.”
