Le Samyn des Dames: Emma Norsgaard wins after late break caught in finale

Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) timed her sprint to perfection to win Le Samyn des Dames in Belgium, Tuesday.

The Danish rider had to bide her time in a tense finale after two riders broke clear in the final 6km but the 22-year-old benefited from excellent teamwork before launching her sprint inside the final 200m.

Norsgaard came by breakaway riders Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo) and Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) to win ahead of Chiara Consonni (Valcar – Travel & Service). Guazzini hung on for third.

The win represented Norsgaard’s first victory of the season after she was second in Sunday’s Omloop van het Hageland.

“I’m quite happy with results so far. The most important part was not to panic because there were breakaways all the time. I knew that I had a really strong team behind me and that it would finish in a sprint,” Norsgaard said at the finish.

I’m never sure of winning but I was feeling that we had a really good chance in the sprint.”

The race was decided in the final 25km with Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) putting in a major attack. She was joined and then dropped by Alice Barnes (Alice Barnes) with 10km remaining but Movistar and Uno-X Pro Cycling Team controlled the peloton and didn’t let the British rider build up more than just a handful of seconds.

When Barnes was caught a flurry of attacks took place but it was Shirin van Anrooij who put in the most telling dig. She went clear with Guazzini on her wheel and although the pair only had a slender advantage to start with they expanded their gap on the final cobbled section of the Rue de Belle Vue with 2.6km to go.

The Trek-Segafredo rider did most of the work and as the pair hit the final 1km and the road began to gently rise, it looked as though they would contest the sprint. However, the bunch quickly swamped the duo with Norsgaard proving the strongest.