Pfeiffer Georgi wins Brugge-De Panne two-and-a-half years after breaking back at the same race - ‘I’m so happy’
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Updated 23/03/2023 at 21:44 GMT
Britain’s Pfeiffer Georgi took a superb solo win at the Brugge-De Panne, two-and-a-half years after she broke her back at the same race. The 22-year-old and team-mate Megan Jastrab worked together to try and get away from their rivals, with the tactic coming off with 7km remaining when Georgi attacked and couldn’t be caught by the chasing group to record one of the biggest wins of her career.
'What a day, what a ride!' - Georgi solos to emotional Brugge-De Panne victory
Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) claimed her first WorldTour win with a solo victory at the Brugge-De Panne, the same race where she broke two vertebrae in 2020.
Georgi made her move from a six-rider group with 7km to go to win by over a minute from Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx).
The British rider became national champion in 2021, the other major achievement from her senior cycling career so far.
“I’m so happy, it’s my first WorldTour win,” said Georgi. “Pretty unexpected for me, actually. We came here today with a plan to race aggressively, and the whole team did that.
“We tried to thin out the bunch a bit before we even turned into De Moeren. Me and Megan [Jastrab] made the front split, then on the last lap, we tried again to make it even smaller.
“We knew we couldn’t come to the finish with any of them [the other riders] because they are very fast. We just knew we were going to attack. Megan attacked first and set me up, then I just went as hard as I could.
“My legs were feeling pretty tired at that point, so it was just giving it everything, and the DS shouting in my ear really helped, just head down all the way to the line."
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'I went as hard as I could' - Georgi delighted with first World Tour win at Brugge-De Panne
A group of 10 broke away from the peloton with 58km remaining, the first time past De Moeren. The peloton were not able to catch them and on the second passing of the exposed wind section, the group was reduced to six.
DSM pair Jastrab and Georgi, Balsamo, Wiebes, Amalie Dideriksen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), and Shari Bossuyt (Canyon-SRAM) made up the group.
Knowing they did not have the sprint prowess of the other riders, Jastrab and Georgi took turns to attack and with 7m to go, the latter finally got away.
A moment of hesitation meant Georgi was soon out of touch and the chasers failed to work together.
Balsamo pipped Wiebes in the sprint for second, with Jastrab, Bossuyt and Dideriksen rounding out the top six.
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