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Canada’s Kirchmann wraps up an astounding weekend in Belgium with second at Omloop van het Hageland

For Canada's Leah Kirchmann, Sunday's competition in Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium certainly set the tempo of her early season, when Omloop van het Hageland hit the road.

February 29, 2016
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For Canada’s Leah Kirchmann, Sunday’s competition in Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium certainly set the tempo of her early season, when Omloop van het Hageland hit the road.

The race covered 129 technical, winding kilometers with stiff winds reported on the course, the roster of athletes at the start line being largely the same as Feb. 27’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. A notable absence, though, was British rider Lizzie Armitstead of Boels-Dolmans, who had opted not to participate after the previous day’s competition. With the world champion out of the race, the energy of Omloop van het Hageland was aggressive from the start.

Many of the race’s opening attacks were courtesy of Wiggle High5 and Orica-AIS, taking several breakaway opportunities that left Gracie Elvin, riding for Orica-AIS, and Anouska Koster of Rabo Liv with a lead on the field halfway through the race.

That dynamic held on until the final 35 km of the race, when several attacks from the main group followed. Hitec put a solo rider out front, but that lead was caught on the course’s final climb, with one lap remaining. Meghan Guarnier of Boels-Dolmans, the reigning United States road champion, was caught following her own attack by Trixi Worrack of Canyon-SRAM, until the forward pair was pulled back by a strong chase effort from Wiggle High5. With 13 kilometers left in the race, the group was all together.

The dramatic final stretch of the race saw Cylance Pro Cycling trying to protect Shelley Olds as she sprinted for the lead, but as the pack surged towards the finish, Italy’s Marta Bastianelli, riding for Ale Cipollini, sprinted hard to take the win seemingly out of nowhere.

Also exploding in the race’s final meters, of course, was Kirchmann, riding for Liv-Plantur, who claimed the podium’s second spot after shadowing Bastianelli to the finish.

“It was a great result to be on the podium today,” she said after the race, “and I am really happy with my performance over the weekend. The team were 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 as hard as possible.”

“For the spring 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,” Kirchmann recalled.

Lotta Lepisto of Finland, competing in Cervelo-Bigla colours, took third.

Podium: Omloop van het Hageland 2016

1: Marta Bastianelli (ITA) Alé Cipollini 3:29:08
2: Leah Kirchmann (CAN) Team Liv-Plantur
3: Lotta Lepistö (Fin) Cervélo-Bigla Pro Cycling

66: Joelle Numainville (CAN) Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team 0:00:18
74: Annie Ewart (CAN) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:01:39