Olympic Madison Champion Chiara Consonni demonstrated her sprinting prowess and positioning ability as she clinched her first World Tour podium of the season at Brugge de Panne on Thursday. The fast sprinter was positioned perfectly as the race neared the line. Consonni held her position firmly behind European Champion Lorena Wiebes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With 175m to go, both riders darted through a gap and opened up their sprints. In the final metres, Consonni surged from the slipstream of the European champion and made a bid for the win, desperately throwing her bike and emptying the tank completely. She couldn’t quite edge ahead, but Wiebes admitted to feeling Chiara’s shadow looming behind her.
Consonni was pleased to stand on the podium again: “In the end, it’s a podium behind a rider who won Sanremo last week and has won nearly everything she can. I’m most pleased and really motivated by being there, showing my sprint, and coming with more speed from the back. The first part of the season didn’t start in the best way. I pushed all the way to the line, but I think I started my sprint a bit late. Still, I’m happy to take second place and to start the Flanders Classics with a podium. I’m also very happy with how we worked as a team – we tried to stay in front, knowing that the finish here can be chaotic, and I think we did a really good job with this. Race by race, we are getting to know each other more, and we’re starting to work much better together.”
Attention will quickly shift for the team now to Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields on Sunday, where Consonni finished third in 2024.
Photo © Gaëtan Flamme and Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto
