Millie Salmon wins the U17 Women’s race

Britain's Millie Salmon has added her name to the Gent-Wevelgem honorary list for the Women U17. She won in a sprint from Belgian champion Laura Fivé.

46 kilometres with three climbs along the way. This is what Gent-Wevelgem for Women U17 looked like on Sunday 21 April. At a sunny Grote Markt in Ypres, a wave of the flag signalled the start of the race. That the Kemmelberg is the ultimate adjudicator in Gent-Wevelgem once again turned out to be the case. After an initial sorting out on the Monteberg, four riders were left at the front at the top of the iconic cobblestoned climb. One of them was Belgian champion Laura Fivé.

The quartet became a trio a few kilometres later after a mechanical failure for one of the leaders. At 17 km from the finish, two riders remained at the front: Laura Fivé and Millie Salmon. The duo was defending a twenty second lead in front of four British chasers: Melanie Rowe, Maia Howell, Aelwen Davies and Peggy Knox. And with success.

Fivé and Salmon rode together to the finish, but the Belgian champion was not confident of beating Salmon in a sprint. So she attacked but could not get away from the British rider. And indeed, in the sprint, it was Salmon who took the victory.