Ruth Winder snatches photo-finish victory at Brabantse Pijl

U.S. champion Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) snatched a dramatic photo-finish victory over Demi Vollering (SD Worx) at Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday.

Vollering looked like she had won ahead of Winder after coming from a long way back in a six-up sprint, and even celebrated as she crossed the line.

The race jury didn’t agree, and after an official review, awarded the victory to the Trek-Segafredo sprinter, who was shocked to find herself the winner.

“I’m extremely surprised. I came to this race really wanting to be my best and in the end, it played really well for me,” Winder said. “In the end, I thought Demi had it. I was sprinting and I threw my bike, but she celebrated and I thought she’d won.”

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An early celebration

The race came down to a six-rider breakaway, which pulled clear at the start of the final local lap.

Italian sprinter and favorite from the group Elisa Balsamo (Valcar-Travel & Service) opened up the sprint early with about 250m to go. The effort of the race’s 22 climbs had clearly taken a toll, and she faded to third place.

Winder bided her time, only pouncing with less than 100 meters to the line. Vollering, who was on Balsamo’s wheel, powered around the fading Italian and mounted a serious challenge to Winder’s acceleration.

In the end, it all came down to the dive for the line. Winder blinked first, but it was Vollering who was sure that she had taken the win, throwing her arm up in celebration. She was even congratulated by her teammates.

“I am very disappointed. I had the feeling that I won this sprint. Apparently not. I don’t know if it was the jump, but it is almost impossible to see in the pictures,” Vollering said. “During the race, I thought something was going to happen, so I had to stay at the front. I was glad we could stay away.

It was only when the results flashed up on television screens that it became clear Winder had won her first race since last year’s women’s Santos Tour Down Under.

“Every climb I set the pace high with the group and tried to set up good cooperation with the other girls. I am glad it worked out.”

Aggressive racing

After several early attacks failed to stick, the pressure from the big teams really ramped up after the halfway point. A dangerous-looking group, which included Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (SD Worx), Coryn Rivera (Team DSM), and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) jumped clear with 40 kilometers remaining.

It was deemed too dangerous by the teams left behind and the move lasted less than four kilometers.

Each climb presented another opportunity for a break to form, but it wasn’t until the start of the final lap that the winning move was able to go clear. Team BikeExchange and FDJ were among those that missed the split and both teams tried to send riders across the gap to no avail.

The leading six worked well together, building a gap of about a minute as they went into the final kilometer.