Team DSM put on a perfect race throughout the Classic Brugge-De Panne, leading to an impressive solo victory for Pfeiffer Georgi. Always in control of the situation, the team forced the decisive split with 60 kilometres to go and played it perfectly in the final. Megan Jastrab added the cherry on the cake with a strong fourth in the chasing group.
From the beginning of the race, Team DSM were ever-present at the crucial moments and attentive when the wind became stronger. On the Belgian roads, they put the hammer down with about 60 kilometres to go on an exposed section and forced splits in the peloton. In the group of ten leaders, they were present with two riders – Georgi and Jastrab. The group kept working well and ensured the chasers wouldn’t be able to return. With less than 10 kilometres to go, the two Team DSM riders forced another split in the leading group. Shortly after, Jastrab set up the winning move and Georgi attacked their opponents, while Jastrab then thwarted any chase. Nobody could follow the punchy move and Georgi went solo all the way to line, taking home the first victory for the team of this year’s Classics campaign and the fourth win of the season for the Team DSM Women’s program.
Speaking after the race, a delighted Georgi said, “I’m so happy, it’s my first WorldTour win. We came here with a plan to race aggressively and the whole team did that; I was just finishing off a great team effort in the end actually. Everyone knew where it was going to split. We tried even before we even turned into De Moeren to try and thin out the bunch a bit and so that it was already hard going into that section. Megan and I made the front split and then we tried again on the last lap to make it even harder so we could then race the final. We knew we couldn’t go to the finish with the others, because they’re all fast, so we knew we had to attack. Megan attacked first to set me up, then blocked and covered from behind and I just went as hard as I could. My legs were on fire, but I just gave it everything. I had Albert on the radio giving me encouragement which really helped. It was head down all the way to the line. It’s just great to win in this way with the team.”
