AG Insurance – Soudal riders conclude the Baloise Ladies Tour

On Sunday, the riders of AG Insurance – Soudal lined up for the final stage, which took place in Deinze and covered a 117 kilometer flat course. As expected, everything came down to a mass sprint, where the battle for the final positions was fiercely contested.

Febe Jooris, who had been leading the youth classification all week, unfortunately had to relinquish the white jersey on the last day. Despite her strong performances throughout the week, she was unable to maintain her position in the final stage of the competition.

“Today was the last day in Deinze. We wanted to get Maaike on the podium in the general classification and I hoped to keep the white jersey, although I knew it would be difficult because I had the same time as Marie Schreiber. Unfortunately, Maaike lost seconds in the bonus sprint, after which a large group escaped. We tried to keep the gap small and eventually everything came back together. There were several more attacks and I kept jumping in to keep Maaike fresh for the final sprint. It was a super hectic finish; Maaike was ideally positioned but lost the wheel, making a podium place unfortunately unattainable,” said Febe afterward.

“We have ridden strongly all week and I am very pleased with how the riders have performed. Maaike finished fourth and Febe ninth in the general classification. It's a pity that Febe lost the white jersey on the last day due to the bonus seconds, but she still holds the green jersey as the best Belgian rider. In the overall team classification, we ended up in second place and can be satisfied with this week,” said sports director Stijn Steels.