Veenhoven wins Tour de Gatineau as Team Visma | Lease a Bike sweeps top four
Nienke Veenhoven has claimed victory at the Tour de Gatineau. The Dutch rider crossed the line just ahead of her teammates Martina Fidanza, Margaux Vigié and Lieke Nooijen, who completed an impressive clean sweep of the top four for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
On Friday, Nooijen had already won the time trial. Just one day later, it was time for the road race. Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled proceedings from start to finish, dictating the race and leaving nothing to chance. The course was mostly flat with a few sharp inclines, but they weren’t enough to stop Veenhoven from powering to victory.
The Dutch sprinter notched up her second win of the season, following her earlier stage triumph at the Baloise Ladies Tour. For Team Visma | Lease a Bike, it marked their 18th win of the year.
"This one goes down as a true team performance"
“This one goes down as a true team performance”, said Veenhoven, quick to praise her teammates. “Our plan was to make the race hard right from the start. It suited us to go into the final with a select group. We raised the pace and ended up in a group of twelve, with six of us there. The girls did an incredible job. They set up the sprint perfectly, and all I had to do was finish it off in the last 200 meters. I’m super thankful to them and very happy with this win.”