Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) defied nasty conditions and the drama of taking a wrong turn with 5km left to solo to victory at Gent-Wevelgem.
There were crashes at regular intervals and following a big pile-up with over 40 kilometres to run, Reusser slipped off the front and powered away for her first success in a Classic.
When entering Wevelgem, Reusser was without a guiding motorbike and turned left when the route was straight.
It could have thrown her out of kilter, but she calmly turned around and got back in her rhythm for a brilliant win.
“I saw Marlen go and I knew she was gone,” Reusser’s team-mate Lotte Kopecky said. “Marlen is capable of doing this and she is always capable of winning a Classic.”
The atrocious weather played a part in the day, and a big crash with 44km remaining saw a bunch of riders hit the deck and made the peloton – a reduced one – extremely nervous.
Shortly after the spill, Reusser – who fell earlier in the race – drifted off the front and as her SD Worx team-mates slowed things down in the pack, the Swiss opened up a chunky lead. It proved to be a race-winning move.
As she hit the foot of the Kemmelberg, Reusser had stretched her lead to over a minute and reached the summit with that advantage intact.
It was a case of whether Reusser, who had established her name in cycling as a time-trialist, could solo the 33km to the finish.
Reusser missed two bottles, in part due to the cold and wet conditions, but it did not halt her progress and with a lack of cohesion in the chase she extended her lead to over two minutes with 20km remaining.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) – who was caught up in the big crash – got back on and attempted to motivate the chase but they never got organised, with SD Worx riders causing disruption.
A breakaway group of seven formed with 15km to go and they worked well – albeit with Reusser’s team-mate Christine Majerus doing a fine job of polite interference.
In behind, the day was summed up with 10km to go when a crash took down another bunch of riders – Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky and Elena Balsamo among them.
Reusser looked supremely strong and kept the pack at bay, but she had a moment of alarm when taking a wrong turn with 5km to run.
She quickly realised the error, turned her bike around and got back in time-trial mode to land her victory.
Megan Jastrab (DSM) and Maike van der Duin (Lifeplus Wahoo) completed the podium.
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