Sunday brought another major reason to celebrate for UAE Team ADQ. While Elisa Longo Borghini was claiming a magnificent victory in the final stage of the Giro d’Italia Women in Saluzzo, young Italian rider Federica Venturelli was also celebrating success in Belgium at the Dwars door de Westhoek.
The Belgian race covered 131.6 kilometres, starting and finishing in Boezinge, and featured several WorldTour teams on the start line. UAE Team ADQ lined up with a squad made up of two WorldTour riders and three athletes from the UAE Development Team.
Febe Jooris, Fee Knaven, Magdalena Leis and Abigail Miller delivered an outstanding team performance throughout the opening phases of the race, setting the stage for Venturelli to seize her opportunity later in the day. The Italian rider made it into the decisive breakaway of 13 riders and, despite being outnumbered by several rival teams, she executed a perfect race to sprint to victory.
Lonneke Uneken (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) finished second, while Marta Lach (Team SD Worx-Protime) completed the podium in third place.
For Venturelli, the victory marks her second win of the season following her success at the Clasica de Almeria and carries special significance after a lengthy period away from competition due to physical issues.
Federica Venturelli said after the race: “I was really happy to return to racing in Belgium today after missing all the spring races because of physical problems. I have always loved racing in Belgium, so it was very emotional for me to come back here.
It was a tough day because we started with only five riders, while many other teams had seven. We managed to stay near the front throughout the first part of the race and then this breakaway of 13 riders went clear. I was the only UAE Team ADQ rider there, while other teams had multiple riders, including four from SD Worx and three from AG Insurance.
We all worked together well, but the final lap of the circuit was very demanding because the SD Worx riders repeatedly tried to take advantage of their numerical superiority by launching attacks. I had to use a lot of energy to respond to those moves.
The sports directors kept me calm over the radio and encouraged me to believe in my sprint. To be honest, I wasn’t completely convinced because there were several strong sprinters in the group. However, I managed to start the sprint in a good position, found space on the opposite side of the road from where most of the others were moving, and was able to take the victory.
This win makes me incredibly happy. I want to thank all my teammates, who did an amazing job during the first part of the race in a large and very chaotic peloton, allowing me to be part of the decisive breakaway.”
(ph. @melscape.photography)
