AG Insurance - Soudal successfully concludes Gracia Orlova
The Gracia Orlova has come to an end for the riders of AG Insurance - Soudal. On the last day of this stage race, the final stage on April 28, the competitors took on a challenging route of 101,6 kilometers featuring eight local laps after an initial 12,7 kilometers in Bohumín. Mirre Knaven finished the competition strongly, securing a fourth place in the last stage, which earned her a top-five finish for the day.
AG Insurance - Soudal achieved impressive results throughout the multi-day event. Lore De Schepper secured second place on the first day, and Mirre Knaven won the second day’s stage, followed by a second place on the third day and a fourth place in the final stage.
The individual performances were also remarkable: Mirre Knaven claimed the white jersey and Lore De Schepper won both the mountain jersey and the green jersey. In the general classification, Mirre Knaven earned a commendable second place. Additionally, the team of AG Insurance - Soudal won the team classification, highlighting their dominance and team spirit throughout the race.
“We rode strongly as a team again and gave everything to win the overall classification, although unfortunately, we did not succeed. I was completely spent in the sprint, but we performed excellently every day and are incredibly proud of our performance”, said an elated Mirre Knaven.
“The second stage of the race had to be adjusted due to snowfall, resulting in the removal of the toughest climb. I did my best on the remaining climbs to make a difference, but they were not challenging enough to create significant time gaps. Mirre was still with me and she easily won the sprint. During the time trial, which was mainly about power, I tried to lose as little time as possible, which moved Mirre up to second place and me to fifth in the overall standings. After that, we adjusted our tactics and fully supported Mirre in the following days. Yesterday, Mirre, Julia, and I took turns putting pressure on the yellow jersey, but a mass sprint was inevitable. Today, in the final stage, we had to control the race and give it our all for a day win with Mirre in the sprint, and to secure her second place. Despite several solo attacks, where I always responded alone and completely drained myself for the team, the peloton always caught up. In the end, we put everything on Mirre's sprint, and she finished fourth. Overall, it was a very successful week. I won the mountain jersey and the combativity jersey, while Mirre took the points jersey. Mirre finished second, I was fifth, and Julia ninth in the overall standings. In the youth classification, we secured the first, second, and fourth places. We also won the team classification! We really rode fantastically as a team this week”, concluded a happy Lore.