Franziska Koch and Team DSM power to 2nd in Antwerp after great team effort

After a victory on Saturday from Charlotte Kool, Franziska Koch managed to sprint to second place in Antwerp this Sunday.

The start of the race had the same chaos as in Veenendaal with some crashes. Megan Jastrab, Nienke Vinke and Daniek Hengeveld were among those involved and Daniek had to abandon the race.

The team went on to ride at the front of the peloton setting a pace which caused many riders to drop and a reduced bunch remained with only 30 riders as they headed into the final 75 kilometres. In the final, Franziska managed to make the jump to a small group of four who increased the pace again. In the sprint that followed, Franziska finished the day off in a great second place.

After the finish, Koch commented: “It was a really hectic race as we were already full gas in the first cobble sections together as a team. In the final we had some bad luck with Charlotte and Megan punturing on one of the worst moments of the race, so I was left alone at the front. Then in the sprint it was a close second place.”

Team DSM coach Kelvin Dekker added: “We already had some bad luck before the race as Megan and Daniek already crashed in the neutral zone. Nienke crashed right after that happened. For Daniek it meant the end of her race. The team were at the front of the race all the time – controlling the race. In the last 40 kilometres we still had Charlotte, Megan and Franziska in the reduced bunch and as we were planning to go full gas once more, both Charlotte and Megan punctured. That was basically the end of Charlotte’s race with regards to a result. Megan was really close to coming back to the first group, but didn’t make it. So we only had Franziska in the front. In the last 10km she tried to go solo as she was really strong, but in the end we focused on the sprint. She did everything right in the final but eventually came a bit too short to someone who was a bit faster. Overall, a second place was deserved as the team did a really good job but had some bad luck. I’m really happy that someone as Franziska can take a result in a big race as this one.”