Last year Rachele Barbieri finished on the podium in Veenendaal-Veenendaal, a result she wanted to repeat or improve this year.
This year`s edition of Veenendaal-Veenendaal went over 133,6 kilometres, divided into four laps. The race was animated by three riders. They opened up a gap of more than 2 minutes. Liv Racing TeqFind took command in the chase and just before the final lap the escapees were caught. In the last lap some riders tried to escape from the bunch, but nobody succeeded and so a bunch sprint had to bring the decision in Veenendaal.
In that sprint Lotte Kopecky took the win. Barbieri started her sprint from behind and just missed the podium finishing fourth. The Italian sprinter was disappointed after the race. “I felt good the whole day. The team rode strong in the chase behind the escape group, but in the final kilometres I was too far back. So I had to launch my sprint from really far, which costs me the podium eventually. It is a huge disappointment for me, because I want to show my fast legs so badly and battle for the win. Now we try to turn the page and aim for a better result tomorrow in the Omloop der Kempen.”