It was one of those races where the results sheet only tells part of the story.
Yes, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won In Flanders Fields (formerly Gent-Wevelgem) on Sunday. Big deal, you might think – the pre-race favourite winning for the third year in a row? Hardly the most exciting result.
But this wasn’t just another Wiebes victory. This wasn’t the best sprinter in the world following moves all day then rolling everyone in a big bunch sprint. This was a woman on a mission, riding for redemption, taking the race into her own hands, and showing, yet again, that she’s far more than ‘just’ the best sprinter in the world. This was a different kind of dominance – a ride of supreme confidence and panache.
Missing out at Ronde van Brugge (formerly Brugge-De Panne) on Thursday clearly hurt Wiebes. Boxed in for the final kick where Carys Lloyd (Movistar) took a breakout victory, it was the first time Wiebes had been beaten in a bunch sprint since 2024. She said late last week that the result gave her “extra motivation for In Flanders Fields”; that “situations like that keep you sharp”.
Wiebes was beyond sharp on Sunday.
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