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Lotta Henttala sprinted to a sixth place in the 25th edition of the Ronde van Drenthe. The sixth Women’s WorldTour race of the season was shortened to just 94 kilometers instead of 152 kilometers because of the snow that caused the cancelled of Drentse 8 on Friday. The roads were cleared on Saturday thoigh and the course now consisted of six laps around the VAM-berg and then back to Hoogeveen.

“It was really crazy in the last 24 hours. There was lots of hesitation about the race: would we race or not. In the end it was decided we would race but at the start there was still hesitation. It was a nervous race with crashes. Ilse (Pluimers) and Romy (Kasper) helped me at the start and then I found myself in the breakaway after two laps.

The crashes happened behind me. Julia (Borgström) and Maud (Rijnbeek) came back and helped me. I encouraged them to give all and be focused on breakaways. They did a great job. We were short on riders in the final while SD Worx had five. I needed to use a lot of energy in the final kilometers and didn’t have lots left in the final kilometer. In the end, after all that happened, sixth is a good result and there is more to come in the Belgian races,” Lotta said.

Maud was one of the riders helping Lotta after Romy and Ilse crashed out. The young Dutch rider countered moves and protected Lotta.

“The first laps I had to really get used to the cold but then I managed to ride at the front and stay there. I positioned well before the VAM-berg. Julia and I helped Lotta. We communicated well and tried to counter attacks. In the final kilometers we tried to position Lotta for the sprint. There is room for improvement there to get her in an even better position in the near future. I am already looking forward to Nokere Koerse on Wednesday,” said Maud.

Romy Kasper was involved in the crash. She suffered many abrasions but avoided fractures. Sadly, Ilse did fracture her hand. More news on her recovery will follow soon.