Kirsten Wild powered to victory in a sprint finish on the Mall to win the RideLondon Classique just days after her Wiggle High5 team announced this would be their final season.
Wild left her move characteristically late but overtook her Dutch compatriot in the final few metres of the 64.1km Women’s World Tour race. Marianne Vos finished second ahead of the 2016 Junior World Champion Elisa Balsamo.
The British rider Dani Rowe won the intermediate sprint competition, but Wild stole the show by ignoring her team’s woe to become the first woman to win this event twice.
“We didn’t ride so much together,” Wild said afterwards. “But I have to say it worked really well, it is something we can be really proud of. It’s a nice feeling, and something Wiggle High deserved, to show that we are a team at a really high level.”
Wiggle High5 announced this week they would be shutting down at the end of this season after failing to find a new title sponsor.
