Only a bit more than a week after her third place at the European championships, Lonneke Uneken took her first podium place in a one day UCI-race this Saturday. In the Flanders Ladies Classic she was the fastest in the peloton sprint. However, with Julie van de Velde (Lotto-Soudal) and Sofie de Vuyst (Parkhotel Valkenburg), two riders stayed ahead of the first group.
“It was quite a hard day”, Lonneke said after the finish. “From the start I didn’t had very good legs, but during the race it got better. Unfortunately I broke my front wheel, just in front of the Berendries, but luckily enough I could return quite fast. We didn’t catch the two riders in front, but I was able to win the sprint of the group and I am happy with that.”
Lonneke is in her first year as an elite women rider and besides the third place in the U23 race of the European championships, she also finished third in the last stage of the BeNeLadies Tour. After her third place in the Flanders Ladies Classic, she was honoured as the winner of the youth classification in the Lotto Ladies Cup.