Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products) won the richest women’s race on the UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar in London on Saturday. The powerful Dutchwoman sprinted to victory on The Mall to win the Prudential RideLondon Classique ahead of Nina Kessler (Lensworld-Zannata) and Leah Kirchmann (Liv-Plantur).
Wild’s victory saw her claim €25,000 from the €100,000 prize purse. The win is Wild’s second in the UCI Women’s WorldTour. She also won a stage at the Amgen Tour of California.
The 66-kilometre race in central London was aggressive from the gun. The attacks started on the second lap of the the 5.5-kilometre circuit, with riders constantly attempting to slip the stronghold of a motivated peloton.
The field stayed together in the final two laps as the sprint trains began to organise. Wild managed to avoid a crash in the middle of the road to claim what Hitec Products team manger Karl Lima called “the greatest win in our history”.
Despite missing out on the last two rounds of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team teammates Megan Guarnier and Lizzie Armitstead continue to occupy the top two spots of the UCI Women’s WorldTour overall rankings. Leah Kirchmann jumped up from seventh to third.
After 13 rounds and 31 days of racing, the UCI Women’s WorldTour has covered 3103.9 kilometres.
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Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Road race - Sunday 07.08.2016 Time Trial - Wednesday 10.08.2016
The UCI Women’s WorldTour will take a break for the next two weeks as many of the stars of the inaugural series compete in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Women who have raced the UCI Women’s WorldTour will compete in the road race, the individual time trial, cross-country mountain bike and multiple events on the track. Riders race for their nations rather than their trade teams at the Olympics.
Kirsten Wild’s Prudential RideLondon Classique win is another big sprint victory in her impressive palamares. The 33-year-old turned professional with @Home Cycling Team in 2004 and has been winning fast finishes for over ten years. Equally successful on the track, Wild will represent the Netherlands in the Omnium at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Watch this video to learn more about Kirsten Wild.
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Key highlights
1st – Prudential RideLondon (2016) 1st – Amgen Tour of California, stage 4 (2016) 1st – The Women’s Tour de Yorkshire (2016) 1st – Ladies Tour of Qatar, overall (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014) 1st – Tour of Chongming Island, overall plus two stages (2014, 2015) 1st – EPZ Omloop van Borsele (2015, 2011, 2010, 2009) 1st – Ronde van Gelderland (2015, 2014, 2013, 2010) 1st – Novilon Eurocup (2015, 2014)
On the 2nd of August we are 3 days away from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
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