Simone Boilard (St Michel – Mavic – Auber93) had high expectations heading into the RideLondon Classic, having managed to finish 10th last year. On Sunday, in the last stop in Great Britain, Boilard had bad luck in the final sprint, but still managed to clinch the top 10 of the day.
“The race went well. Unfortunately, I derailed at the very end. I’m a little disappointed, because I think the top 5 could have been accessible for me today [Sunday]”, she mentioned in an interview with Sportcom.
The peloton remained well united until the middle of the distance where three riders managed to escape. Frenchwoman Victoire Berteau (Cofidis), Dutchman Sofie Van Rooijen (Parkhotel Valkenburg) and Briton Grace Lister (DAS – Handsling) were finally caught with just over 10 kilometers to go.
Despite the mechanical problems in the last meters, Boilard managed to hold on to take 10th place in this last stage which was won by Charlotte Kool. The Dutchwoman confirmed her victory in the general classification at the same time.
For his part, Boilard finished the weekend in 13th place (55 seconds). Had it not been for an equipment issue that had a direct impact on her result on stage one, Boilard is confident she could easily have improved her overall standings.
“The Classic didn’t start very well. I had a problem with my wetsuit on Friday, it tore during the race and I lost all my gels trying to close it. As I went to get gels from the car there was an attack and I was in a bad position to join the lead group,” Boilard said.
The Quebecer admits, however, that the second stage was much more positive as she took sixth place on Saturday.
Also in action at the Classique RideLondon, Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin (Cofidis) finished 90th on Sunday to move up to 68th in the final standings.
Last year, Olivia Baril signed the first victory of her professional career by winning the Grand Prix in the city of Eibar (1.1), in Spain. Back on the starting line in the Basque Country on Sunday, the UAE cyclist had the sole objective of defending this title.
The Quebecer played it safe on the day’s various climbs to make sure she had enough energy in the final sprint. Baril finally confirmed her victory in a five-man sprint where she finished just ahead of Spain’s Sheyla Gutierrez (Movistar) and Ukraine’s Yuliia Biriukova (UAE).
“It’s always hard to defend a win. It went really well, we had to be careful of the Movistar cyclists, but my teammates did a superb job on that side. I didn’t want to make my life too difficult and it was mission accomplished,” commented Baril.
Three other Quebecers were at the start of the Eibar City Grand Prix, Émilie Fortin (Cynisca Cyling) also broke into the top 10 by taking eighth place. Adèle Normand (Massi – Tactic) and Joséphine Péloquin (Grand Est – Komugi – La Fabrique) finished 20th and 53rd respectively.
For his part, Pier-André Côté suffered a fall with 65 kilometers to go during the third stage of the Boucles de la Mayenne on Saturday. The Human Powered Health cyclist was able to get back on the road, but as his helmet was broken in several places, he made the decision to pull out of the race as a precaution.
Côté therefore did not take part in the last stage of the Boucles on Sunday.
