The team started for the 4th consecutive time in the French cup opener. The team raced well and got Julie, Elisa and Audrey in the select group of 15. Later the group was down to 11 and in the end Emma Johansson (Sweden) escaped with Elisa. Emma was the strongest in the sprint and Elisa was also overtaken by the sprinter Jolien d’Hoore (Lotto) in the end. Audrey sprinted to a 5th place in the chase group, while Julie took the peloton sprint for a nice 11th place.
Team: Elisa Longo Borghini, Tone Hatteland Lima, Sara Olsson, Audrey Cordon, Julie Leth, Emilie Moberg Results
The stage race was a difficult affair for the small team. After the 3 first races week 1, everybody got sick, and barely made it to the start. Miriam never recovered and only started 2 stages. We came a little short in the brutal final climbs that almost all stages finished with. On the last day Tone and Siri pulled a nice sprint for Cecilie to finish in a 6th place. Results Photos
Team: Cecilie, Miriam, Siri, Tone
Audrey had a solo attempt in the 3d of the Drenthe races, but was caught. Kirsten Wild (Giant Shimano) won the race. Results
Team: Audrey, Emilie, Julie, Thea, Sara
After a long and hard day Chloe pulled the sprint in the second group for Elisa who ended 16th. Elisabeth Armitstead (Boels) won the race. Race report from Chloe Hosking Results
team: Elisa, Chloe, Audrey, Lauren, Ashleigh, Thea
The first race in the Drenthe triple was won by Chantal Blaak (Specialized Lululemon). Chloe was our best on 9th place. Results
team: Chloe, Elisa, Julie, Sara, Lauren, Shana van Glabeke (Guest Rider)
Sunday was time for our 4th time in this classic in Tielt-Winge. We managed to place 3 riders in the break of 17, Elisa, Julia and Audrey. Julie later dropped from the group, but this was a promising start for her. With a few km to go Emma Johansson (GreenEdge) and Elisabeth Armitstead (Dolmans) attacked the group, Elisa was close to catch them but couldnt quite make it. Instead there was a group sprint of 9 riders and Audrey took the last posium spot after Armistead beat Johansson for the win. Elisa took the 10th spot. Team: Audrey, Elisa, Julie, Lauren, Ashleigh, Thea Results
We did 3 races in El Salvador the 6., 7. amnd 8.March. All 3 were very hot, more than 40 degrees. This gave us big problems, and in all the 3 races we dropped from the leaders in the final climbs. In Grand Prix GSB, Miriam was our best with a 26th place. In GP de Oriente and GP El Salvador Cecilie was our best with 32d and 27. places. Tone was in a break in GP el Salvador, but the break was catched by the peloton. Races were won by Zabelinska (Rusvelo), Abbott (United Health Care) and Amialusik (BePink) respectively. Next week is the Vuelta El Salvador, from 11. to 16.March. Results, GP GSB Results, GP la Oriente Results, GP El Salvador
It was a great race for us, we were in all the attacks, and in the final sprint Ashleigh took second behind Emma Johansson. Elisa Longo Borghini was 8th, so it was a good day for us. Team: Chloe, Ashleigh, Elisa, Thea, Lauren, Audrey Results
Saturday kicked off the spring classics in Europe, and it was just as hectic and chaotic as expected. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio was out best with an 8th place, after a sprint for 4th place with 22 riders. Only 6 seconds ahead was a small breakaway where Amy Pieters (Giant-Shimano) was the strongest in a 3-girl sprint. It was a day where we had some bad luck at strategic moments, Chloe Hosking had a small crash on top of the Cote-de-Trieux which cost her too many places, and Elisa Longo Borghini had a crash going into Patersberg, which disturbed her rythm.
The start of the race was going well for us, and Thea Thorsen and Sara Olsson guarded Elisa until the entrance of the first major climb. A small crash for Ashleigh didnt destroy anything at this early stage. Elisa handed over the captain role to her after her crash, as she was apparently in a good shape. She almost bridged to the leaders (Majerus/Johansson/Pieters/Armitstead) together with Van Vleuten (Rabo), but they were caught up by a chase group. This chase group never cooperated well, and failed to catch the 3 leaders (Majerus dropped back to this group). Audrey Cordon did some chasing with Lotto and Futurumshop, but Audrey had to use most of her energy on closing down attacks on the chase group. So as a result the leaders stayed away. In the final sprint Audrey lead out and Ashleigh did a fine sprint for the 8th place. Chloe took the peloton sprint (for rehearsal, she said :-),
So we ended up with 8th place and 4 riders in the top 30, and a good team effort. It could easily have been a podium with a little more luck.
Team: Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Audrey Cordon, Elisa Longo Borghini, Chloe Hosking, Thea Thorsen, Sara Olsson Results
The 126 km long race was Ahsleigh against everybody. She played her cards well and tired the peloton until the descicive attack on the final lap. Race report & results
