Reflections: Festival Elsy Jacobs
Prologue
Festival Elsy Jacobs got underway this evening with a fast blast around the streets of Cessange for a two kilometre long prologue, which featured a mixed bag of a parcours; with some technical sections, powerful straights and short, punchy climbs.
First down the ramp for Team DSM was Canadian TT champion Leah Kirchmann, who stormed around the course, setting the timing sheets alight to move into the hot seat with a time of three minutes and 15 seconds. Juliette Labous, Wilma Olausson and Esmée Peperkamp followed for the team, all producing good rides over the testing course.
It was Lorena Wiebes that was next down the ramp for the team, and she powered her way over the two kilometre challenge, besting teammate Kirchmann by three seconds at the line; moving into the hot seat with a time of three minutes and 12 seconds.
With all competitors finishing their efforts not long after, no one was able to match the duo of Wiebes and Kirchmann, with the Team DSM riders securing the top two spots on the stage podium after brilliant rides.
| 1 | Lorewa Wiebes | Team DSM | |
| 2 | Leah Kirchmann | Team DSM | +3 |
| 3 | Karlijn Swinkels | Jumbo-Visma | +3 |
| 4 | Thalita De Jong | Bingoal Casino – Chevalmeire | +3 |
| 5 | Lonneke Uneken | Team SD Worx | +5 |
Stage One
Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) put an end on Saturday, on stage one of the Festival Elsy Jacobs (UCI ProSeries) in Luxembourg, to an almost endless streak of good places without a victory she’s long deserved. The 21-year-old Danish champion took a resounding success at the group sprint in Steinfort, taking the yellow jersey as GC leader in the process, to pay back after magnificent efforts from all of her five team-mates.
Barbara Guarischi, Lourdes Oyarbide and Alba Teruel kept the ‘Danish Rocket”s powder dry all day, sheltering her from the winds and following all the moves at the front of the peloton behind the early break, alongside Leah Thomas. The Californian would later cap off that work – together with Aude Biannic, entirely focused on guiding Norsgaard through the field – with a spectacular leadout, leaving no chance to the other big teams, and setting Emma perfectly as she won with a big gap against Confalonieri (WNT, 2nd) and Kirchmann (DSM, 3rd).
It’s Norsgaard’s fourth UCI win, the Silkeborg native having previously notched up two national road race titles -including the current, 2020 one- and stage one of the 2020 Setmana Valenciana. This one will surely help the Nordic youngster unleash her power over the next few months.
Stage
| 1 | Emma Norsgaard | Movistar Team Women | 3:14:06 |
| 2 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team | |
| 3 | Leah Kirchmann | Team DSM | 0:00:02 |
| 4 | Elise Chabbey | Canyon-SRAM Racing | |
| 5 | Juliette Labous | Team DSM |
Overall
| 1 | Emma Norsgaard | Movistar Team Women | 3:17:15 |
| 2 | Leah Kirchmann | Team DSM | 0:00:04 |
| 3 | Karlijn Swinkels | Jumbo-Visma Women Team | 0:00:08 |
| 4 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:10 |
| 5 | Thalita De Jong | Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire |
Stage Two
The Movistar Team had never completed a women’s stagerace in the incredibly successful way they did this weekend at the Festival Elsy Jacobs (UCI ProSeries) in Luxembourg. Emma Norsgaard capped off at Garnich, venue for a hilly, difficult stage two (105km), a fantastic hat-trick of victories by claiming the final sprint of the race and adding the GC, conquered in style.
The squad directed by Jorge Sanz at the Great Duchy showed themselves solid and fully commited to the day’s task. Alba Teruel, Barbara Guarischi, Aude Biannic and Lourdes Oyarbide took care of Norsgaard into the first half of the race, while Leah Thomas guided her through to the last kilometer, covering her from the wind and following every single attack, without ever showing any cracks. At the sprint, Emma found the right moment to jump and take the better from Italians Maria Giulia Confalonieri (WNT, 2nd) and Sofia Bertizzolo (LIV, 3rd).
Norsgaard’s fantastic tally this weekend takes Abarca Sports’ account in 2021 up to nine victories. The score currently shows the women ahead of the men (5-4) after an unforgettable weekend, for all kinds of different reasons, for the Movistar Team led by Eusebio Unzué.
Stage
| 1 | Emma Norsgaard | Movistar Team Women | 2:47:55 |
| 2 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team | |
| 3 | Sofia Bertizzolo | Liv Racing | |
| 4 | Silvia Persico | Valcar-Travel & Service | |
| 5 | Marie Le Net | FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope |
Overall
| 1 | Emma Norsgaard | Movistar Team Women | 6:05:00 |
| 2 | Leah Kirchmann | Team DSM | 0:00:14 |
| 3 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team | |
| 4 | Karlijn Swinkels | Jumbo-Visma Women Team | 0:00:18 |
| 5 | Thalita De Jong | Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire | 0:00:20 |