TOP TEAM COMMITMENT, BUT NOT QUITE FOR CHIARA

Ronde van Brugge marks the moment that the spring classics truly come alive, with the calendar accelerating rapidly towards the double pinnacle of Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix Femmes. 

Cobbles, tight road furniture, exposed rural roads and fickle spring weather combined to keep the outcome of the 144km race around Brugge wide open. Yet, it was that final variable that ultimately shut things down. With the forecasted wind failing to arrive, Belgium still delivered a brutal day, as bitterly cold rain and hail swept across a course that circumnavigated the charming city. Thoughts for the majority of the race were on survival, rather than finding opportunity.

The team’s approach centred on guiding Chiara Consonni efficiently through the miserable conditions and into a sprint-winning position. Inside the final 40km, it seemed that the other teams had settled on the same outcome; riders were being distanced out the back, but no decisive moves were sticking at the front.

It was an impressive display of commitment and cohesion, as all six riders came together at the head of the peloton inside the final 5km, with Chiara poised at the end of the train. It was her eighth appearance at the race, after finishing second in 2025.

Nastya Kolesava emptied the last of her reserves before Maria Martins took over with 3km to go, then followed by Maike van der Duin. With just 700m remaining, the plan began to unravel. Maike moved to the right of the bunch, while Zoe Bäckstedt went left, with Chiara on her wheel. Maike quickly found open road and rounded the final sweeping bend at 400m to go in pole position. Meanwhile, Chiara was slower to find a clear path, still outside the top ten as the bunch thundered past 200m to go. When she finally had space to launch her sprint, only 50m remained, and she instinctively threw her bike at the line for a bittersweet fourth place.

Frustrating, because with Chiara’s strong form and top positioning by Maike, the makings of far greater success were there. But equally motivating, because it was the most unified sprint performance the team has delivered this year.

Here’s what a shivering Chiara had to say post-finish:

“I feel like I lost my chance to win, because today was really cold and to just survive, it was hard for everybody. This made it a good opportunity to go for the win and I felt like I could, but this still means that we can start every race with the thinking to win the race. It’s not impossible. Already on Sunday we can try again.”

“I think the girls did a really good job. We were in front, grouped together and everybody did the job that we planned before. It was really chaotic. I was on the left and then I tried to go on the right, but then I don’t know – I felt that I couldn’t even sprint. Now, I’m already thinking about the next races because I’m in good shape and we are a really strong team. I think that we can do something great.”

Sports Director Davide Arzeni added:

“From one side, I’m happy because the commitment of the riders of the team was really good, and maybe we deserve this victory, but the the last kilometre went wrong and that’s when it counts, so I’m also sad because we really lost one opportunity to win a race.”

“The condition is there, but we just need to adjust something. The plan was that Maike opened the road for Zoe, and then Chiara would open her sprint. We know that Chiara could have won this race, but we just have to continue to practice because I think this is what we miss. This is the best way to move forward.”

Such is the pace of the spring classics, Chiara and the team won’t need to wait long before trying again, with In Flanders Fields this Sunday (March, 29). The roster will change only slightly, with Rosa Klöser stepping in for Maike van der Duin.