Latest news with #SDWorx-Protime
The Independent
12-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot becomes first French winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes with stunning solo ride
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot became the first French winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, soloing to a stunning victory on her debut at the 'Hell of the North'. The mountain bike Olympic champion, riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, attacked with 25km to go before bridging across to Lidl-Trek's Emma Norsgaard, dropping the Dane on the four-star Camphin-en-Pevele cobbled sector seven kilometres up the road. She quickly pulled out a minute's advantage on the chasing pack and had time to celebrate in front of a jubilant home crowd in the Roubaix velodrome, one of cycling's most iconic finish lines, as they cheered on the first French winner of the 'Queen of the Classics' since Frederic Guesdon in 1997. Victory in her first appearance at the gruelling cobbled race continued a brilliant start to the year for the veteran, who was third in the Tuscan race Strade Bianche and second in the Tour of Flanders last weekend behind world champion Lotte Kopecky. The 33-year-old only recently returned to road cycling after a long hiatus to prioritise off-road racing. 'They were riding really strong so I was confident the team could do something very good, but you still need to have some luck and to put everything together, so it was a great day for us,' the winner said. Asked about how well her return to road racing is going, she said, 'For sure, doing third in Strade Bianche and last weekend, second in Flanders, and now winning Roubaix - I didn't expect this, to be honest! Because I felt good I said why not, I want to try. I wanted to take this race as training [for the Tour de France ] so it's not too bad, I have to say! I really enjoy my comeback on the road and I'm really happy.' It is the biggest win of her road career since becoming world champion in 2014, and first at a Classic since Fleche-Wallonne in the same year. EF Education-Oatly youngster Letizia Borghesi produced the surprise of the day, dropping the small group of chasers in the closing kilometres and eking out a three-second advantage across one and a half laps of the velodrome to hold off Lorena Wiebes for third place. The SD Worx-Protime rider got the better of Ferrand-Prevot's teammate Marianne Vos in a tight sprint for the final spot on the podium. Wiebes' teammate and defending champion Lotte Kopecky was distanced in the latter stages of the race, rolling across the line two minutes and four seconds down having emptied the tank to help set up the team's sprinter. Norsgaard, who had attacked with 32km to go but fell back after she was dropped by Ferrand-Prevot, finished 14th.
The National
07-02-2025
- Sport
- The National
Lorena Wiebes makes it two from two after second stage of UAE Tour Women
Lorena Wiebes produced another sensational sprint to the finishing line to complete back-to-back victories in the UAE Tour Women on Friday. The SD Worx-Protime's Dutch rider punched her right hand in the air as she sprinted clear of a bunch of five rivals to complete her second stage win and retain the leader's jersey after the 111-kilometre trip from Al Dhafra Fort to Al Mirfa. Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) took second spot ahead of the UAE Team ADQ trio of Lara Gillispie, Elisa Longo Borghini and Karlijn Swinkels, who came home in that order. Wiebes, Gillespie, Williams, Longo Borghini and Swinkels were the five riders who battled through crosswinds to spend all day out in front, forming an echelon within the first few kilometres of the stage and holding off the peloton. 'I didn't expect to win from a group of only five riders that went so early, especially because I was last to come across and the peloton has been close to us for such a long time,' Wiebes said. 'We got a one minute lead in the headwind part, and we kept going. I was lucky to have three UAE riders in the group. They kept riding for the GC for Elisa [Longo Borghini]. 'It made it easier for me to sprint to victory. But you're never 100 per cent sure to win a sprint. Having won here two years ago, I knew which position I had to be in after the last curve. 'It felt like a very fast race all day, so I knew it was hard for the chasers. Now I hope to also win the last stage. It's something I'm yet to achieve in the UAE Tour.' It was a challenging second day of racing along the fast, flat desert roads, with an average speed of 48.4km per hour. 'I felt it was really fast. That's the thing that I knew from the chasing group behind, that it was hard to chase us back, as they could not go much faster than we did,' Wiebes said. Saturday's penultimate 152km Stage 3 from Al Ain Qasr Al Muwaiji to the summit of Jebel Hafeet is the longest and decisive sector which UAE Team ADQ will be using to set up Longo Borghini for the overall lead. The 2023 winner of the UAE Tour when racing for Lidi-Trek before her switch to UAE Team ADQ is well placed with her team backing her to the hilt. 'For sure it was the plan to go full gas from the start. We were prepared for the crosswinds, but it wasn't the plan to be only five riders in the lead,' Swinkels said of Stage 2. 'We had a tough day, but we had a plan to give time to Elisa [Longo Borghini] and she's happy to start tomorrow's stage with an advantage of one and a half minutes. 'She's strong in the mountains but she's also very strong in the crosswinds. I guess she'll have a bit less stress tomorrow. 'We were never really sure to stay away but we thought we could when the difference was two minutes. If we managed to keep the pace high, it would be hard for them to close the gap. 'In the last part, we gave all the energy we had left so the gap would be as big as possible. I think we did a really good job as a team. I don't think the Black Jersey (leader of the intermediate sprint) is a goal for us. I only went for it to favour Elisa with the bonus seconds. 'The Black Jersey is the warmest one so it's not what Elisa wanted to wear up to Jebel Hafeet. But we hope that after tomorrow, she'll wear the Red Jersey.' 1. L. Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) - 2hr 17min 35sec 2. L. Williams (Human Powered Health) +0secs 3. L. Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) +0 4. E. Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) +0 5. K. Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) +6 1. L. Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) - 6hr 14min 52sec 2. L. Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) +13sec 3. L. Williams (Human Powered Health) +14 4. E. Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) +16 5. K. Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) +21
