Description
May 2, 2026
Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich 2026 🇱🇺 (1.1) WE – Garnich – Garnich : 112,4 km
Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich is a UCI 1.1 classification that winds through the undulating,
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May 2, 2026
Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich 2026 🇱🇺 (1.1) WE – Garnich – Garnich : 112,4 km
Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich is a UCI 1.1 classification that winds through the undulating, picturesque landscapes of Luxembourg’s Gutland region, where the roads rise and fall with the rhythm of a terrain shaped by gentle hills, dense forests, and rolling farmland. The course is a mix of wide, open highways and narrow, twisting lanes that cut through sleepy villages and climb into the wooded heights, their surfaces smooth but demanding, with gradients that rarely relent for long. The climbs, though not towering, are steady and punishing, their slopes often hovering around 5–7% for kilometers at a time, forcing riders to settle into a grueling rhythm as the road snakes upward through the trees. The descents are fast and technical, their tight bends and sudden changes in camber requiring constant attention, while the flatter sections are exposed to the wind, which sweeps across the open ridges and turns the race into a tactical battle for position. The race dynamics are shaped by these repeated ascents, with attacks launching on the steepest ramps, the peloton thinning as the weaker riders are dropped in the wake of the relentless pace. The finish often arrives after a final, leg-sapping climb or a fast descent into the valley, where a reduced bunch sprints for victory, or a lone rider who has escaped the chaos holds off the charging pack by a handful of seconds. The race’s structure—with its mix of climbing, descending, and flat sections—ensures that no single type of rider dominates, the outcome hanging in the balance until the final, decisive effort.
Marta Lach (SD Worx-Protime) threw her bike to the line from a small bunch sprint and won Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich for a second consecutive year.
Fellow SD Worx-Protime rider Femke Gerritse grabbed second place, with less than a half of wheel making the difference. Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Cycling) edged Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance Soudal Devo) for third place.
It marked the first victory for Lach in one year, to the date, the Polish rider winning a photo finish at last year’s race from a five-rider group. This time she worked with her teammate to reach the front in a lead group of 12 riders, and then sprinted against her, as both SD Worx-Protime riders dashed for the line side-by-side.
The 112.4km route began with four laps, 18km each, passing through Clemency and featuring just one categorised climb at 4.3%, taking the peloton on the western side of Luxembourg near the Belgian border. Then a more punchy four circuits with ascents over Rebierg (1.5km at 4.5%), led to the downhill finish to the line in Garnich.
The peloton remained largely together until the final four circuits when the pace picked up with 60km to go. With just under 35km to go, six riders pushed away as a threat: Mikayla Harvey (SD Worx-Protiime), Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis), Sidney Swierenga (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental), Anna Bruneel (AG Insurance Soudal Devo), Cleo Kiekens (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling) and Katie Scott (DAS-Hutchinson).
With two laps and 20km to go it was Harvey, Ludwig and Swierenga still setting the pace. The 18-year-old Canadian Swierenga was the final rider of the trio caught just before the bell rang for the final circuit, SD Worx duo Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi doing much of the work to reel in the trio.
The rapid-fire attacks began with under 3km to go, with SD Worx-Protime once again leading the way. Lach and Gerritse worked together to finish the job, going to the line side by side as part of the 12-rider group that contested the sprint.
Results :
 WE </strong> - Garnich - Garnich : 112,4 km
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Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich is a UCI 1.1 classification that winds through the undulating, picturesque landscapes of Luxembourg’s Gutland region, where the roads rise and fall with the rhythm of a terrain shaped by gentle hills, dense forests, and rolling farmland. The course is a mix of wide, open highways and narrow, twisting lanes that cut through sleepy villages and climb into the wooded heights, their surfaces smooth but demanding, with gradients that rarely relent for long. The climbs, though not towering, are steady and punishing, their slopes often hovering around 5–7% for kilometers at a time, forcing riders to settle into a grueling rhythm as the road snakes upward through the trees. The descents are fast and technical, their tight bends and sudden changes in camber requiring constant attention, while the flatter sections are exposed to the wind, which sweeps across the open ridges and turns the race into a tactical battle for position. The race dynamics are shaped by these repeated ascents, with attacks launching on the steepest ramps, the peloton thinning as the weaker riders are dropped in the wake of the relentless pace. The finish often arrives after a final, leg-sapping climb or a fast descent into the valley, where a reduced bunch sprints for victory, or a lone rider who has escaped the chaos holds off the charging pack by a handful of seconds. The race’s structure—with its mix of climbing, descending, and flat sections—ensures that no single type of rider dominates, the outcome hanging in the balance until the final, decisive effort.
Marta Lach (SD Worx-Protime) threw her bike to the line from a small bunch sprint and won Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich for a second consecutive year.
Fellow SD Worx-Protime rider Femke Gerritse grabbed second place, with less than a half of wheel making the difference. Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Cycling) edged Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance Soudal Devo) for third place.
It marked the first victory for Lach in one year, to the date, the Polish rider winning a photo finish at last year's race from a five-rider group. This time she worked with her teammate to reach the front in a lead group of 12 riders, and then sprinted against her, as both SD Worx-Protime riders dashed for the line side-by-side.
The 112.4km route began with four laps, 18km each, passing through Clemency and featuring just one categorised climb at 4.3%, taking the peloton on the western side of Luxembourg near the Belgian border. Then a more punchy four circuits with ascents over Rebierg (1.5km at 4.5%), led to the downhill finish to the line in Garnich.
The peloton remained largely together until the final four circuits when the pace picked up with 60km to go. With just under 35km to go, six riders pushed away as a threat: Mikayla Harvey (SD Worx-Protiime), Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis), Sidney Swierenga (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental), Anna Bruneel (AG Insurance Soudal Devo), Cleo Kiekens (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling) and Katie Scott (DAS-Hutchinson).
With two laps and 20km to go it was Harvey, Ludwig and Swierenga still setting the pace. The 18-year-old Canadian Swierenga was the final rider of the trio caught just before the bell rang for the final circuit, SD Worx duo Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi doing much of the work to reel in the trio.
The rapid-fire attacks began with under 3km to go, with SD Worx-Protime once again leading the way. Lach and Gerritse worked together to finish the job, going to the line side by side as part of the 12-rider group that contested the sprint.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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