Mitchelton-Scott’s Grace Brown wins Brabantse Pijl Dames
The 28-year old Australian celebrated her first European win in Belgium on Wednesday.
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Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott) soloed to victory at Brabantse Pijl Dames on Wednesday.
Just days after her second-place finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Australian showed she is in peak form for the October classics.
“It is pretty exciting to cross the line first for my first time in Europe,” Brown said. “I took confidence from Sunday into today’s race and I think that really helped me. I have made a bit of a jump in this last week which is really cool.”
Brown had great support from her Mitchelton-Scott team who showed aggressive riding from the gun. Even through a relentless procession of climbs, the peloton mostly remained as one large group until an attack by Mavi Garcia (Ale’ BTC Ljubljana) and Katia Ragusa (Astana Women’s Team) called everyone to attention. With just under 50km remaining, the pair established a small lead as they approached the Hagaard climb.
Within a few kilometers, the two riders were caught as strong moves from Team Sunweb and Trek-Segafredo initiated a series of attacks. American champion Ruth Winder’s attempt to create a gap finally reduced the bunch to 25 riders, and with 29 km to go her compatriot Lauren Stephens (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) attacked away solo.
Stephens quickly established a lead of over 30 seconds. Over the following climbs, Brown tried to force the peloton to chase but had to wait until the American was within reach to launch her race-winning move.
“On that final lap, I just saw an opportunity when girls where attacking and there was a bit of confusion and I just decided to attack and go for it,” Brown said. “When I got across to Stephens it was on a cobbled section and she tried to ride the gutter and then was struggling to come across to me and completely lost momentum, so I decided to just go.”
With 17km to go, Brown rocketed up the climb as Stephens fell back into the peloton. Team Sunweb’s Liane Lippert and Floortje Mackaij mounted a late chase but the pair was unable to cut into Brown’s 23-second advantage and finished second and third, respectively. Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal Ladies) won the reduced bunch sprint for fourth.
Brabantse Pijl WE Results
Stage | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | BROWN Grace | Mitchelton-Scott | 3:03:38 |
2 | LIPPERT Liane | Team Sunweb | 0:47 |
3 | MACKAIJ Floortje | Team Sunweb | 0:51 |
4 | KOPECKY Lotte | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 1:19 |
5 | FAHLIN Emilia | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 1:19 |
6 | LELEIVYTĖ Rasa | Aromitalia Vaiano | 1:19 |
7 | CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | 1:19 |
8 | RAGUSA Katia | Astana Womens Team | 1:19 |
9 | GARCÍA Mavi | Alé BTC Ljubljana | 1:19 |
10 | STEPHENS Lauren | Team TIBCO - SVB | 1:19 |
11 | FAULKNER Kristen | Team TIBCO - SVB | 1:19 |
12 | CROMWELL Tiffany | Canyon//SRAM Racing | 1:19 |
13 | SIERRA Arlenis | Astana Womens Team | 1:19 |
14 | HEINE Vita | Hitec Products | 1:24 |
15 | BALSAMO Elisa | Valcar - Travel & Service | 1:24 |
16 | CHURSINA Anastasiia | Alé BTC Ljubljana | 1:24 |
17 | SWINKELS Karlijn | Parkhotel Valkenburg | 1:24 |
18 | HAMMES Kathrin | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | 1:24 |
19 | GAREEVA Aigul | Cogeas - Mettler Pro Cycling Team | 1:27 |
20 | LABECKI Coryn | Team Sunweb | 1:29 |
21 | ROY Sarah | Mitchelton-Scott | 1:29 |
22 | LUDWIG Hannah | Canyon//SRAM Racing | 1:29 |
23 | VIECELI Lara | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | 1:29 |
24 | KESSLER Nina | Team TIBCO - SVB | 1:29 |
25 | KLIMOVA Diana | Cogeas - Mettler Pro Cycling Team | 1:29 |
26 | VAN ANROOIJ Shirin | Trek-Segafredo Women | 1:38 |
27 | GROSSETÊTE Maëlle | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 1:39 |
28 | BORGHESI Letizia | Aromitalia Vaiano | 1:54 |
29 | YONAMINE Eri | Alé BTC Ljubljana | 1:54 |
30 | BASTIANELLI Marta | Alé BTC Ljubljana | 1:54 |
31 | WINDER Ruth | Trek-Segafredo Women | 1:54 |
32 | HOSKING Chloe | Rally Cycling Women | 2:08 |
33 | ANDERSEN Susanne | Team Sunweb | 3:27 |
34 | GEORGI Pfeiffer | Team Sunweb | 3:27 |
35 | KOCH Franziska | Team Sunweb | 3:29 |
36 | ENSING Janneke | Mitchelton-Scott | 3:33 |
37 | BARNES Alice | Canyon//SRAM Racing | 3:35 |
38 | BUJAK Eugenia | Alé BTC Ljubljana | 3:43 |
39 | VAN DE VEL Sara | Ciclotel | 3:43 |
40 | SHEKEL Olga | Astana Womens Team | 3:43 |
41 | VAN GOGH Natalie | Chevalmeire Cycling Team | 3:43 |
42 | VANDENBULCKE Jesse | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 3:43 |
43 | BRAAM Danique | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 3:43 |
44 | SCHWEINBERGER Christina | Doltcini - Van Eyck Sport | 3:43 |
45 | RATTO Rossella | Chevalmeire Cycling Team | 3:43 |
46 | DUVAL Eugénie | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 3:43 |
47 | FIDANZA Arianna | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 3:43 |
48 | PARKINSON Abby Mae | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 3:43 |
49 | GALIMULLINA Iuliia | Cogeas - Mettler Pro Cycling Team | 3:43 |
50 | BORGSTRÖM Julia | NXTG Racing | 3:43 |
51 | KONONENKO Valeriya | Ciclotel | 3:43 |
52 | ASENCIO Laura | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | 3:56 |
53 | PRATT Jessica | Canyon//SRAM Racing | 3:56 |
54 | KLEIN Lisa | Canyon//SRAM Racing | 3:56 |
55 | VAN DEN STEEN Kelly | Chevalmeire Cycling Team | 3:56 |
56 | COPPONI Clara | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 3:56 |
57 | SANGUINETI Ilaria | Valcar - Travel & Service | 3:56 |
58 | POLLICINI Silvia | Valcar - Travel & Service | 3:56 |
59 | PERSICO Silvia | Valcar - Travel & Service | 3:56 |
60 | PIERGIOVANNI Federica Damiana | Valcar - Travel & Service | 3:56 |
61 | KASPER Romy | Parkhotel Valkenburg | 3:56 |
62 | FOURNIER Roxane | Chevalmeire Cycling Team | 3:56 |
63 | WILES Tayler | Trek-Segafredo Women | 3:56 |
64 | DELBAERE Fien | Multum Accountants - LSK Ladies Cycling Team | 4:12 |
65 | LUCAS Sharlotte | Team TIBCO - SVB | 6:21 |
66 | PLICHTA Anna | Trek-Segafredo Women | 6:21 |
67 | BLAIS Marie-Soleil | Cogeas - Mettler Pro Cycling Team | 6:21 |
68 | WORRACK Trixi | Trek-Segafredo Women | 6:21 |
69 | RAAIJMAKERS Marit | Parkhotel Valkenburg | 6:21 |
70 | GANZAR Leigh Ann | Rally Cycling Women | 6:21 |
71 | SHARPE Alice | Ciclotel | 6:21 |
72 | WILLIAMS Lily | Rally Cycling Women | 6:21 |
73 | VAN HOUTUM Céline | Multum Accountants - LSK Ladies Cycling Team | 7:28 |
74 | KULYNYCH Olha | Ciclotel | 7:28 |
Results provided by ProCyclingStats.