Belgian success at the GP Oetingen, the strong cyclocross rider Julie de Wilde defeated the Italian duo Sofia Bertizzolo and Chiara Consonni in a sprint finish after a very challenging day. The twenty-two-year-old from Fenix Deceuninck, achieving her second seasonal victory, perfectly leveraged her team's excellent work that launched her in the sprint.

Fifth edition of the GP Oetingen, now a well-established appetizer of the northern races that in its history has seen Lorena Wiebes win twice and Elia Balsamo in the inaugural edition. This year, for the first time, the start was moved to Sint Pieters Leeuw, then the group pedaled towards Oetingen for 128 km, a typical northern route with a series of climbs always tackled at high speed. In the second part of the race, the peloton entered the circuit phase, a 12 km track to be repeated 5 times that included the climbs of Congoberg (600m at 6.2%), Rensberg (1.2 km at 4.4%) and Zavelberg (500m at 7.1%).

The low temperatures throughout the race day did not intimidate the numerous athletes who attempted attacks, but the group never granted much space. The teams proceeded compactly at high speed, among the most active we highlight Lidl Trek, Visma Lease a Bike, Fenix Deceuninck and especially Canyon Sram with an unleashed Zoe Backstedt who did incredible work and tried multiple times to break away. The violent changes in pace, however, contributed to thinning out the group.

With 15 km to go on the penultimate passage of Zavelberg, we note the attack by Marthe Truyen and Julie De Wilde (Fenix Deceuninck), Marta Lach (Team Sd Worx – Protime), Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance- soudal team) who however did not manage to make a difference. The adverse weather conditions strongly influenced the race, many athletes fell, with 5 km to go Charlotte Kool, the Picnic Postnl Team sprinter, was automatically excluded from the competition.

At 2.3 km on the Zavelberg climb, the last difficulty, Anna Handerson's (Lidl Trek) action reduced the peloton to about fifteen riders with a great numerical superiority for Fenix Deceuninck. The Dutch team perfectly launched Julie De Wilde who then concretized her teammates' work with a victory, also becoming the youngest athlete to write her name in the race's golden book.

FINAL STANDINGS

1 De Wilde Julie Fenix-Deceuninck 03:15:39

2 Bertizzolo Sofia UAE Team ADQ + 00

3 Consonni Chiara CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto + 00

4 Lach Marta Team SD Worx-Protime + 00

5 Baril Olivia Movistar Team + 00

6 Bujak Eugenia Cofidis Women Team + 00

7 Ton Quinty Liv AlUla Jayco + 00

8 Berteau Victoire Cofidis Women Team + 00

9 Mackaij Floortje Movistar Team + 00

10 Oudeman Maud Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 00