Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) won the first stage of the Ford RideLondon Classique on Friday ahead of Clara Copponi (FDJ-Suez) and third place finisher Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo).
Early attacks and breaks marked the first half of the race but none succeeded until around 10 kilometers when a group of 14 riders broke away and gained more than half a minute on the peloton. Within this group, an attack was made by Noemi Rüegg (Jumbo-Visma) at around 5 kilometers but failed to stick. In the end, it was Kool’s teammate, Pfeiffer Georgi, who set up the victory by giving Kool the needed leadout. “Pfeiffer did a perfect leadout, she showed again that she is one of the best lead outs in the world,” Kool explained afterwards.
Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/prudential-ride-london-gp-we/2023/stage-1
Photo Gallery
All photos © London Marathon Events