February 28/16 11:00 am - Omloop van het Hageland - Tielt-Winge, Kirchmann 2nd

Posted by Editoress on 02/28/16
 

Leah Kirchmann finished on the podium in second place at the Omloop van het Hageland to continue her strong run of form over the weekend. The race honours went to Marta Bastianelli (Alé Cipollini).

Team Liv-Plantur were present during the whole race with both Leah Kirchmann and Floortje Mackaij continuing their strong run of form. The team was very strong today and they put this to good use in putting a lot of attacks during the first part of the race and making sure in keeping the pace high in windy conditions.

The main attack of the day came from two riders on the first cobbled climb of the day, with 73 kilometres remaining. With a chasing bunch of about 50 riders, the duo managed to gain a gap of around one minute.

The two leaders got caught by the peloton with 48km to go and none of the attacks in the finale succeeded as a bunch sprint was inevitable. Team Liv-Plantur rode a strong race with Floortje Mackaij and Leah Kirchmann as they prepared themselves for a sprint finish.

In the sprint, Leah Kirchmann started well with the help of Floortje Mackaij who put her in an excellent position in the final kilometer but she didn’t have the speed to match Marta Bastianelli who was the winner on the line while Leah sprinted to a very nice second place.

Kirchmann said after the race: “It was a great result to be on the podium today and I am really happy with my performance over the weekend.

“The team was very strong today and the wind played a major factor. The team put out some good attacks in the early parts of the race to make it a hard race. For the sprint finish, I was in a good position in the final climb and Floortje helped me a lot as she set me up perfectly for the sprint.”
Report courtesy Team Liv-Plantur

Results from today's Omloop van het Hageland - Tielt-Winge in Belgium