Alice Barnes sprinted to 8th place in today’s Le Samyn des Dames in Belgium.

The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider tried a late breakaway to catch and overtake lone leader Grace Brown in the final 10km of the race. Alice was reeled in by a large group of riders with around 6km remaining.

“We had an attacking plan going into the race. We had some bad luck with several crashes so we didn’t get to play the cards as a full team as we had first planned,” says Alice.

“I kept to the plan even though we were down some riders, and I wanted to take a chance on the cobbles. I used the cobblestones and my cornering to go across to Grace Brown. When I gapped her in the corners, I decided to keep going but it came back together, unfortunately. I tried to recover and do the best sprint I could. It started early but my legs were a bit cooked. I’m happy with how I was riding and that I took a chance so it gives me some confidence going into Bloeizone Tour later this week,” adds Alice.

It was the first team race for 2021 Zwift Academy winner Maud Oudeman. Despite holding a good position in the peloton, Maud was caught up in a crash within the first 10km of the race. She was able to rejoin the peloton and said she enjoyed finishing the first race.

“It was a really hectic race. I crashed hard on the side of the road but luckily I’m fine. I made it back to the group and I’m happy to finish the race in the end. Glad to have ticked that first race off as done,” describes Maud.

Shari Bossuyt was also in the front group finishing just one place behind Alice in ninth position.

Maud, Sarah Roy and Ella Harris were all involved in crashes during the race but have been cleared of major injury.

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