Pfeiffer Georgi 5th on final stage, secures 4th on GC at Simac Ladies Tour

The final day of action at the Simac Ladies Tour saw some fierce racing over a hilly course based around Arnhem, with Pfeiffer Georgi taking fifth on the stage and securing fourth on GC at the end of the race.

A fast start saw multiple attacks in the bunch with Team dsm-firmenich ensuring they were present in any dangerous move. Eventually after almost 50 kilometres of action a group of around 20 riders went clear, with Georgi riding strongly to make the split. The gap consistently hovered between one and two minutes, with a group of chasers then bridging across, making it roughly 25 riders out front. Despite a committed chase in the peloton, the front group were able to hold off and heading into the final 20 kilometres it was clear they would fight it out for the win. Georgi used her positioning skills well and came around the final corner in fifth wheel. With the pace on from the turn and the sprint fully opened, it’s where Georgi would finish on the stage; claiming fourth on the overall classification to round out a successful week of racing for Team dsm-firmenich.

Speaking after the stage Georgi said: “Today was another tough day with lots of short climbs and some narrow, technical parts. I found myself in one of the attacks on the climb which became bigger as others bridged across. The girls chased really hard from behind with Charlotte but unfortunately never made it, so I went for the result in the end. I think we’ve had a successful week with two stage wins with Charlotte and 4th on GC with me, so I think we can be happy!”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Kelvin Dekker continued: “We wanted to sprint with Charlotte today but the situation in the race became quite special with 20 riders in the front. GC wise that was all fine as we had Pfeiffer in with the other contenders. Unfortunately we lost Franziska this morning due to sickness and then Elise quickly in the stage too as she wasn’t feeling 100 percent either anymore. At that moment then we only had Francesca and Daniek around Charlotte. The situation was still okay and felt that we could do things but then more riders bridged and that made things difficult. We started riding with Francesca and Daniek who rode in a really good way and twice we came back to 25 seconds but we just couldn’t close it. It’s a shame as we wanted to sprint with Charlotte as the finisher here. We made some mistakes in the beginning but the team gave everything to try and correct them and really committed to it. Then in the final Pfeiffer tried to go for the stage win to try and make it onto the GC podium but we already discussed before the stage that it would be tough to get a gap on the final circuit. She sprinted to a good fifth place and finishes fourth on GC, plus with our two stage wins, and some days where we raced on a really high level as a team; I think we can go home happy from the race. We maybe missed that final cherry on the cake but the cake was already quite big so we can’t be too disappointed.”