Ladies Thalita de Jong rides to a strong eighth place at Gent-Wevelgem

Six riders formed the early breakaway, they got a nice advantage of six minutes but ahead of the hills the bunch took them back. "There was a lot of wind, so I was riding attentively in the front from the beginning. I was in the front on the right moments, but it was quite difficult for us to keep our position in the bunch today so I was riding behind the facts the whole day", Thalita de Jong looks back.

After the Kemmelberg a new leading group formed, in the back Thalita de Jong worked together with other riders to close the gap. "We closed the gap, so I was still there in the first group, but I felt I didn't have much left in the tank. In the final it was difficult to still escape, so we went to a sprint."

In a hectic sprint de Jong still takes a strong eighth place, the win goes to Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime). "As you could see I went from left to right, so it was chaos. I am satisfied with my eighth place today, it was difficult to ride together as a team today, there was the wind and it was just a hard race overall, so I'm happy. Now I hope to recover well, and on Wednesday a new chance awaits."

Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer