The young Belgian, Luca Vierstraete took victory for the juniors of AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step in Vresse-sur-Semois. Luca attacked at around 30 kilometres from the finish on a tough Ardennes course, which consisted of 6 local laps, covering 64.6 kilometres. On the last lap, she managed to build up an advantage of 2 minutes 40 seconds over the chasers. With this victory in Vresse-sur-Semois, a race that is sponsored by the main sponsor AG Insurance, Luca seals another strong performance in addition to her golden medal at the National Junior Time Trial Championship in May.
Fee Knaven also demonstrated her strong legs and took second place on the podium, next to the Dutch rider Zoë van Velzen.
“This win gives me an incredible feeling. It was a tough race, especially with this heat, but during I felt really good. My teammates also did a very nice job and blocked the other teams so I could stay in the breakaway. All their effort allowed me to attack early in the race and finish the day with a win”, said an enthusiastic Luca after her victory.
“I am very happy with the results that our young group of juniors shows. This victory by Luca shows that we are racing offensively as a team and they have learned a lot, especially in the tactical part. They know that they are allowed to make mistakes in order to learn from them. That is what we stand for: the development of the rider itself. We hope to contribute to raising the level within Belgian cycling among the U17 and U19 riders. We are raising the bar a bit,” said manager Natascha den Ouden.
