Marta Jaskulska sprinted to seventh place at the Beobank Samyn Ladies one-day classic in Belgium, fighting back to the front group in the finale three times to score her second top-ten of the year.
The 25-year-old was part of a ten-rider breakaway that went clear with 62 km to go in the gruelling 133.4 km race from Quaregnon to Dour.
“I was dreaming about the podium, but it’s nice to get this top-ten,” Jaskulska said afterwards. “I took the risk to attack and spend my energy, and I’m satisfied that I tried. The girls in the group were fast, so I needed to try something different. It didn’t quite work, but that’s racing. I’m happy I was in that group fighting for the win.”
Jaskulska joined the breakaway at the halfway point of the race when the peloton split before the succession of Chasse de la Motte and Côte de la Roquette sectors.
“The breakaway went on a not-so-technical part,” explained Jaskulska. “It wasn’t expected after a fast start of the race, but the peloton slowed down, and some riders decided to attack, and every team, one by one, joined the front, so I decided to move because the group got bigger, and it was risky for us. ”
The gap grew steadily over the course of the breakaway and broke the two-minute barrier. With one lap to go, it was clear that the winner would come from the ten riders away.
Inside the final ten kilometers, Jaskulska was struck by bad luck, touching the wheel of the rider in front, briefly unclipping and being distanced in a strong crosswind.
“My sport directors motivated me to chase back, and I believed I had the power,” said Jaskulska. “I really wanted to finish all the effort that the team had put in behind me, so I just kept pushing, coming back and then did my best to attack again.”
In total, Jaskulska fought back to the group three times, joining the final sprint in Dour, where Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) clinched victory.
The team came into Samyn Ladies after a crash-addled Omloop Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Jaskulska herself was caught up in a large one before the race-defining Muur-Kapelmuur and sported bloody elbows at the finish, an experience she used as motivation.
“The last crash gave me a lot of confidence because it was something out of my control,” she explains. “I was just involved in the crash. I thought that I couldn’t really have control over this if I am crashing or not in these kinds of situations when someone goes down just in front of me, but I can have control over the mindset I will start the next race with, and it really paid off today.”
The team is back in action this week at the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina stage race in Spain from March 6 through 8.
Beobank Samyn Ladies results
1 GILLESPIE Lara – UAE Team ADQ 3:27:33
2 GOOSENS Marthe – AG Insurance – Soudal Team 0:01
3 TRUYEN Marthe – Fenix-Premier Tech ”
4 ANDERSSON Caroline – Liv AlUla Jayco ”
5 TON Quinty – Liv AlUla Jayco ”
6 AASEBØ Kamilla – Uno-X Mobility 0:03
7 JASKULSKA Marta – Human Powered Health 0:09
8 VIGILIA Alessia – Uno-X Mobility 0:16
9 BÄCKSTEDT Elynor – UAE Team ADQ 0:29
10 VAN DER HULST Amber – VolkerWessels Cycling Team 2:22
Photos: GettySport
