Photos: GettySport
Silvia Zanardi stormed to victory in a sprint finish at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine in France. Benefiting from a picture-perfect lead-out from her teammates, the 24-year-old let out a mighty roar at the end of the 130km race.
“I think my scream was heard all the way to Italy,” Zanardi says jovially. “I couldn’t wait to raise my arms to the sky.”
The team controlled the race well from the outset, not letting any breakaway get a significant lead on the rolling parcours and keeping a strong late move from Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) and Marta Lach (CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team) on a tight leash.
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After early workers Maëlle Grossetête, Yullia Biriukova, Alice Wood and Marit Raaijmakers had done their bit, road captain Romy Kasper brought our rockets into the final kilometer. The explosive Daria Pikulik then acted as the perfect launchpad for Zanardi to kick for victory with a clear sight of the line.
“I’m delighted that the team believed in me,” said Zanardi on the pre-race tactics. “All the girls worked brilliantly. In the last kilometer, I followed Romy and Daria who really brought me into the perfect position and I launched my sprint first on the left side, putting my all into getting the win for the team.”
Zanardi, who recently penned a new deal for 2025, has been in fine late-summer form. After seventh and eighth-place finishes in Belgium, this victory is the cherry on top with more chances still to come.
“I’m happy to return to good feelings in these races and I have to thank my team so much, and Kenny [Latomme, Team Manager] who always believed in me.”
La Choralis Fourmies Féminine results
1 ZANARDI Silvia – Human Powered Health 3:13:49
2 FERGUSON Cat – Movistar Team ”
3 ALZINI Martina – Cofidis Women Team ”
4 TOMASI Laura – Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi ”
5 SOUREN Scarlett – VolkerWessels Women’s Pro Cycling Team ”
6 DE VALLIER Elisa – Top Girls Fassa Bortolo ”
7 VAN ‘T GELOOF Marjolein – Hess Cycling Team ”
8 VEENHOVEN Nienke – Team Visma | Lease a Bike ”
9 DE ZOETE Mylène – CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team ”
10 SOTO Catalina Anais – Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi ”
