Charlotte Kool and Team DSM double up at UAE Tour, crowning great week of racing

Getting their season underway in perfect style, Team DSM’s Women’s program navigated a potentially dangerous day in the saddle, working excellently as a unit throughout the stage before setting up Charlotte Kool who powered to victory in exemplary fashion; taking the opening win of the race.

A relatively calm stage saw Team DSM help to take control of the early breakaway, setting tempo at the front of the peloton and ensuring the catch was made. All eyes then turned to the finish with the team working well as a group together, moving sprint finisher Kool up towards the front. The final was hectic, with several twists and turns and some stop start action with Kool losing the wheel of last leadout rider Pfeiffer Georgi. Georgi expertly noticed the danger and stopped pulling, before Kool weaved her way through the bunch, threading the needle before unleashing a monstrous sprint to come around all the other sprints and take the win; her and Team DSM’s second of the week.

Speaking after the stage, a jubilant Kool said: “It was really hectic and I lost Pfeiffer a bit. I thought she went but she made a nice gap and waited because we didn’t want to launch Lorena. I knew I had to be patient and hope there would be a gap, which there was, and I just went full for it. We’ve really enjoyed it here, we are doing so well. We really are a team and we do it all together. I think yesterday we also showed with Esmée that we are capable of a lot of nice things. To finish it off like this is a dream.”

Team DSM coach Albert Timmer added: “I think we can be really happy with how the final went and how smartly we did things. Of course the finish wasn’t how we planned or a perfect leadout like the other day, but it was purely down to Pfeiffer and how she sees the race and then acts on it, so that was really impressive. I think a big shoutout to her, but also to the rest of the team too who looked after each other throughout not only today but the whole week. It’s been a crazy week for us and I’m really happy with how we started the season with two wins at the highest level and a top eight on GC, so I think we can be more than happy after a successful week.”