An excellent opening of the road season on European soil. Jeanne Korevaar took 7th place on Saturday noon in Meerbeke (Belgium) in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, after a small bunch sprint of 35 riders. Also Dani Rowe, Anouska Koster and Riejanne Markus finished in the front.

The course of the traditional season-opener in Belgium had been redrawn this year.  In the final, the riders followed an earlier Ronde-route. DS Jeroen Blijlevens’ riders were always attentive and present at key moments. “What we wanted to do today, we could do”, says Jeroen Blijlevens, who observed how his riders started the Molenberg ahead of the peloton.

WaowDeals Pro Cycling also demonstrated its good form in the subsequent cobbled sectors and climbs. Dani Rowe jumped away on the Berendries with a strong group of a total of 9 riders. The lead increased to a maximum of 50 seconds. “It’s tough with a headwind in the final. If the cooperation is not optimal and you hear that the gap is decreasing, then you know it will be difficult to stay ahead.”

Dani and the other escapees got caught right before the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Dani still had some reserve left at that point, but had some bad luck. She had to change a wheel which cost her some precious time. Our British rider chased back and re-connected in an impressive manner with the peloton, which had stayed together after the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg, in the final kilometres. 

Jeanne Korevaar sprinted in Meerbeke to the 7th place after 122 kilometres. The victory of the first Belgian spring classic was for the Danish Siggaard. “We’ve had a good plan today which we executed. This is an excellent start of the season, giving confidence for the upcoming races”, says Jeroen Blijlevens. On Sunday, the riders await the Omloop van het Hageland, also in Belgium.