Charlotte Kool sprints to 3rd place in Assen after fast and hectic finale

After Tuesday’s time trial, the first open road stage at Simac Ladies Tour took place on Wednesday with a mostly flat 154 kilometre route from Coevorden to Assen to contend with. Despite one ascent of the VAM-berg and the cobbled Steenhopenweg, it looked likely to be a day for the fast finishers in the peloton, so Team dsm-firmenich PostNL took to the start with the plan of setting up Charlotte Kool for the finale.
It was a controlled stage throughout and no real breakaway was able to form throughout the afternoon until one lone rider, Pluimers, went clear with around 30 kilometres to go. The peloton began looking at each other as no one wanted to commit to the chase so Pluimers’ advantage grew initially, but eventually the peloton took up the chase. Battling into a headwind, the catch was made just outside the flamme rouge where the team moved forward. However, on the long and straight finale the proverbial washing machine was in effect so positioning was difficult. Unfortunately, Kool lost contact with the lead-out so started the sprint from far back, but she came with a lot of speed, passing several riders to take third place on the day.
Kool said: “It was hectic all day, but there was never enough wind or a long enough road to make things split. We focused on staying together and we did well on that front. The final was real chaos, which is what we expected, but we got really boxed in late on. That’s part of sprinting but of course it’s disappointing as I had some real speed in the legs today. Luckily there are many more days to come here where we can get higher on the podium.”