Gladys Verhulst wins Veenendaal–Veenendaal
PHOTOS: BASTIEN GASON
Words: TOM OWEN
Gladys Verhulst secured her first win for the team today when she out-sprinted her sole breakaway companion for the victory in the Dutch one-day professional race.
The win was taken in challenging weather conditions, as evidenced by the jubilant photos of the team celebrating together at the finish. Muddy faces really do win races.
The team’s race plan for Veenendaal was executed perfectly, explains director Nico Marche.
“We always intended to race aggressively coming into Veenendaal. Gladys was actually part of an earlier move right at the beginning, and then when that was caught we had Majo and Maike in the next one.”
When that move was also brought back, Gladys broke free once again, this time in the defining move of the day – and with 100km still to race.
“It was a day when the team had all the capabilities to shine,” Gladys explained after the race. “We knew we wanted to be represented in the break, and at the start of the race we always had a girl from the team in front.
“Finally it settled with the two of us in the lead. It was a long way out to go, but I always more-or-less believed in it.”
The two-up sprint was opened by Team Jumbo-Visma’s Karlijn Swinkels, but Gladys was able to recover and overhaul the Dutch rider.
“For the sprint, she launched it, she took me a bit off-guard, but I came back in the last 100m. I'm really happy to be back. I would like to thank the whole team for today, but also for the whole start of the season – because they really gave me time to get back to my level. It was a super-nice day, and next we head to Thuringen!”
Nico summarised how it feels to take the first victory of 2022.
“It’s really great, amazing. All of the team’s hard work in the first part of the season has paid off, and now we go into the second part with a fantastic feeling.”
Maike van der Duin was fourth in the field sprint behind Gladys, securing sixth place on the day, and a double top-ten result for the team.
The team’s next race is Thuringen Ladies Tour on 24–29 May, while we’ll also be in action at next weekend’s RideLondon Classique on 27–29 May.