Ladies Mieke Docx and Anna van Wersch finish 9th and 10th in final stage of Tour of Chongming Island

The three-day Tour of Chongming in China initially brought some frustrations for the team. "We had set a goal of achieving a top ten finish in the stages," said Mieke Docx. "But here in China, the races take place on exceptionally wide roads, and each stage ended in a bunch sprint... Something always seemed to go wrong. Getting a double top ten today was just what we needed (laughs)."

"I expected the races here in Chongming to be somewhat monotonous, given the nature of the roads, but that wasn't the case at all. There were constant attacks over the three days, with action throughout. Today, I tried to break away alone to grab some bonus seconds, but it turned out to be a tough task. Later in the race, I joined another breakaway with five or six riders, but it didn’t work smoothly, and we had to abandon that effort too. In other words, we had to focus everything on the bunch sprint."

In the final lap, Docx faced a puncture but managed to rejoin the sprint and finished an impressive ninth. Anna van Wersch claimed tenth place. "We did a fantastic job as a team. We grouped at the back first and then moved up on the right at the agreed moment. In the final three kilometers, we had a headwind, so it was crucial not to go too early. I had a free role and was allowed to choose my own path. Anna had a lead-out and was perfectly positioned."

Thanks to their top ten finishes, Docx and Van Wersch also moved into the top twenty of the overall classification on the final day of the Tour of Chongming, securing 18th and 19th place, respectively. "That was our goal for the week, so it’s great to achieve that."

Tomorrow, the ladies will fly south for the Women's Tour of Guangxi on Sunday. "It will be a tough course there, with a climb of one and a half kilometers over 10 percent in each of the five laps. I expect the sprint teams from this week to be there as well, so I’m really curious to see how it will go."

Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer