WOS in the spotlight at the Amstel Gold Race

Apr 20, 2025, 10:13 PM

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Photo credit : Quentin Photographie BE

Team Winspace Orange Seal came away from the Amstel Gold Race with a positive feeling. The French ProTeam, composed by Marine Allione, Camille Fahy, Jenaya Francis, Nadia Gontova, Fiona Mangan and Kiara Lylyk, animated the early breakaway and placed a rider in the main peloton at the finish.

Marine Allione makes the break

The day begon with Marine Allione in the early breakaway, joining a group of nine riders. "I felt better than at the Brabantse Pijl. I had lost a bit of confidence, and today really gave me a mental boost. The plan was to get into the breakaway, and I fought for it right from the start. It felt great to be at the front today, it was a big race with a lot of fans along the roads. We knew we would be caught, but it's always good to be one step ahead."

Team's sport director Damien Pommereau confirmed the team's aggressive approach. "We knew it would be a tough race. There were a lot of narrow roads, direction changes, climbs... All the world's top riders were on the startlist. But that wasn't an issue. The goal was to be in the breakaway. Just like at Roubaix, to make an impact, we have to take the initiative. Marine did that perfectly. They took three minutes gap. I don't really understand the tactics of the big teams who start chasing with 100 km to go and catch the break right at the entrance of the final circuit," he explained.

Nadia Gontova with the big names

Nadia Gontova, for her part, held on to the main peloton throughout the race. She found herself riding alongside big names like Marianne Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini, and two-time world champion Lotte Kopecky. "It was so hard, so fast," said the Canadian, taking part in her first WorldTour event. "It was so technical, like the speed, the turns on these narrow roads, it was really difficult for me. Then, the group was smaller on the local circuit. I saw other big names in the group, so I was really happy to be representing Winspace Orange Seal in the front group today. I did my best. I can have some confidence going to the next races."

Pommereau continued his analysis. "Nadia finished with the bunch, which is a great result for her. To be riding with riders like Vollering or Ferrand-Prévot, even though her positionning is not so good and has to make 10 times the effort of others, it makes her performance even more impressive. We’ll need to work on that, but we’re exactly where we need to be. It was good to race this kind of event, it's a great learning experience. When you're climbing and descending all day and have to constantly fight for position, you come out stronger, even if you finish far down the order. It was valuable, even though we knew we weren’t racing for the win. What matters is that the team is young, and this experience is beneficial. We’ll try to do better next week, especially with Karolina back, she skipped this race to avoid overloading during this busy block."

Results :

52nd - Nadia Gontova

89th - Kiara Lylyk

90th - Fiona Mangan

106th - Camille Fahy