Swinkels on the podium after final stage of Festival Elsy Jacobs
Festival Elsy Jacobs is over for the riders of Team Jumbo-Visma. In the final stage, Karlijn Swinkels managed to get third place. Swinkels finished fifth in the general standings.
Like the stage of the day before, the final stage consisted of a large loop followed by several local laps. On this local lap, the riders encountered a hilly course again, which tempted several riders tried to attack. Both Swinkels and Anna Henderson were able to participate. The course proved not selective enough, however; no group could stay ahead.
Three kilometres before the finish, Team Jumbo-Visma’s race seemed ruined when Henderson got involved in a crash. This crash caused a separation in the peloton. Swinkels was on the right side of the group and was able to break away with a small group. Ewers managed to escape from this leading group and soloed to victory. In the chasing group, Swinkels sprinted to third place.
"The girls have done really well the past few days."
Race coach Carmen Small was positive about her team’s performance. “It was a good day for us. The girls rode as if there were six of us, while we were only four. They raced at the front all day and Karlijn had a super day. She could let others do the work and then do a strong sprint. It was a shame that Anna crashed in the final. Luckily she is okay.”
With a victory, a podium place and Swinkels in the top five of the general classification, the riders of Team Jumbo-Visma can look back with satisfaction on the past weekend. “The girls have done well here in Luxembourg. It was a nice race, so we can’t complain and go home happy”, Small said.