Australian Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the sprint in front of the stars of the peloton on Sunday in Belgium. Another member of today’s breakaway, the New Zealander Kim Cadzow, sixth of the day, was able to count on the help of her Quebec teammates Magdeleine Vallières and Clara Émond at EF Education-Cannondale before taking off.
Brown won the first monument of her career ahead of the Italian and recent winner of the Tour of Flanders, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl – Trek) and the Dutch Demi Vollering (SD Worx-ProTime), twice titled at Liège-Bastogne-Liège . An even more remarkable feat for Brown who almost fell at the exit of a roundabout in the last kilometers before drawing on his reserves and getting back into the lead.
Simone Boilard (Uno-X Mobility), Vallières and Émond all reached the finish line in a group of 25 runners to end the day in 26e34e and 37e places with a delay of 2 minutes on the winner. Olivia Baril (Movistar) finished at 96e rank (+9 min 42 s)
Cadzow, 21, broke out of the main peloton with two other runners with about 100 kilometers to go. The leading group grew to nine runners who increased their lead to 3 minutes over the peloton. It was ultimately the Lidl – Trek team which took matters into their own hands to get back on the fugitives while in front, Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) and Grace Brown took on the work. Cadzow broke away on several occasions, but she was able to stay in the group until the favorites returned at the 8 kilometer mark.
“It was a bit risky, but it was our strategy to send her forward from the start,” admitted Clara Émond, adding that Vallières helped position Cadzow so that she would jump into the breakaway. “The team is happy, because we were aiming for a top 10 or a top-15, so the objective was achieved. On personal plans. I would have liked to be able to follow the best ahead, but hey, it’s next week at the Vuelta (the Tour of Spain) that I will really be able to test my legs. »
Simone Boilard also remained a little unsatisfied.
“It’s the accumulation of the 12 climbs that makes the race so difficult. Right now, I just don’t have the legs to be with the top ten in the world. […] (Finishing in this group), that’s what I’m worth right now. It was a decent day. This spring, these are all races that I’m doing for the first time, so it’s learning and discoveries. I would have liked to have had a bigger result on paper, but I was still consistent, except at Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders. I showed that I was just behind the best. »
Émond, Vallières and Baril should all be at the start of the Tour of Spain which starts on April 28 in Valencia, while Boilard will take a three-week break from the competition circuit in order to train at altitude.