Lorena Wiebes has won the first edition of the Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.1).

The 20-year-old Dutch rider, who has the European junior title to her name, won in a mass sprint on Nokereberg. The rider from Parkhotel Valkenburg won with ease ahead of the German Lisa Klein and our compatriot Lotte Kopecky.

Jesse Vandenbulcke, Ann-Sophie Duyck, and the Dutch rider Marieke Van Witzenburg rode at the front for about twenty kilometers in the first half of the race.

In the five local laps, the race only partially broke open. Kaat Hannes and Lotte Kopecky took turns trying their luck, but the attack by the Italian Elena Pirrona went the furthest. The rider from Astana recorded a bonus of forty-five seconds, but in the end, everything had to be done again.

A mass sprint it was, and Wiebes won the case. Last year, Lorena Wiebes won a stage in the BeNe Ladies Tour. Together with her victory in Nokere, this is her most important victory to date in the elite category.

Winner Lorena Wiebes also became the winner of the PUR NATUR mountain prize, which, like the men’s race, is endowed with 1,500 euros.

Wiebes: “Surprised with my first victory of the season.”

In the final, it was really a fight for a good spot in the run-up to the sprint,” Wiebes tells her story. “And that went well. I managed to position myself well. At a certain moment, I thought: now I’m just going to go. That turned out to be the right choice. When I looked back for a moment, I noticed that I had a gap. Keep going now, I encouraged myself. Fortunately, I was able to continue the effort until the finish.”

Wiebes was surprised with her first victory of the season. “Of course, I know I’m fast. I was able to show that a few times last year. But this year, so far, it hasn’t all gone as I had hoped. Then this is good for the confidence towards the coming weeks.”

The Utrecht native, European junior champion two years ago, hopes to continue her excellent performance from today next week. “I also want to participate in the Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde. But I am especially curious about what I can do in Gent-Wevelgem. I have no idea if I will survive the Kemmelberg.”

Kopecky: “Too bad, but the condition is very good”

The 23-year-old Lotte Kopecky of Lotto-Soudal was satisfied with her third place. “I was too far at the foot of Nokereberg. It was a lot of jostling, the whole race was nervous. I sprinted very well and was even able to remount Amy Pieters. But the first two were too far. Too bad, but the condition is very good. Last Sunday I already finished a nice fifth in the Ronde van Drenthe, I was pleasantly surprised that I could keep up with the world’s top for so long. Now this was the confirmation. That bodes well for the spring.”