Justine Ghekiere finishes a strong fourth at Itzulia

Justine Ghekiere finishes a strong fourth at Itzulia

Our team concluded the race on a high note.

Justine Ghekiere put in a huge display on the final day of Itzulia Women that catapulted her a massive fourteen places in the general classification, where she sat outside the top ten at the start of the final day.

The third stage of the Basque race took place around the stunning city of San Sebastian and was sprinkled by three classified climbs, the last of which came in the closing twenty kilometers. Our team was active the entire stage, and made sure of placing four riders in a select front group which opened a comfortable gap on the peloton by the time they hit the early slopes of Mendizorrotz, where the race exploded.

As Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) rode away, a strong chasing group formed behind her, and Justine was there for AG Insurance - Soudal, giving everything in order to reduce the gap and also gain time in the overall standings. The Belgian accelerated on the fast descent, keen on making the difference, and kept pushing hard, at the end of the stage being rewarded for her incredible effort by taking third - her first podium of the season. The result elevated Ghekiere to fourth place on the GC, only two seconds separating the 29-year-old from the top three.

“I’m really happy with this result. A bit sad that I just missed the final podium but I’m still proud of the way I rode today. The first days I had the feeling I was strong and could do something but the luck wasn’t on my side and I couldn’t create a good race situation for myself”, said Justine.

“Today I didn’t stress about not being in the breakaways and told myself that I should just go all in on the last climb and hopefully find myself in a situation where I could attack at the bottom of the downhill and so I did. I quickly saw the last kilometer mark and gave my all, but sadly there was one rider who passed me on the line. Despite this, I’m proud I took my chance and showed the form I worked for very hard”, added our rider after the race that saw AG Insurance - Soudal conclude a solid second in the team rankings.