British teenager Carys Lloyd held off former world champion Elisa Balsamo to claim her first ever professional victory in a sprint finish at the Tour of Brugge.
The 19-year-old Movistar rider, who was the youngest rider in the World Tour peloton in 2025, powered through in the final 200m, with Italy’s Balsamo unable to close the gap on the line.
Dutch rider Nienke Veenhoven was third, while pre-race favourite Lorena Wiebes ended up in ninth after being boxed in as the finish approached.
“With about 500 metres to go all the sprinters were left with no leadouts so it was everyone for themselves,” said Lloyd.
“I saw 200 metres to go and thought I just had to go and see what happened and it worked. We spoke about it in the bus as a little bit of a joke.
“My mechanic was like, ‘I’ll take you to the Lego store, and you can buy anything if you win’, as a joke, but now, I was like, ‘oh my God, I’ve actually won’.”
Zoe Backstedt was the next best placed British rider in 18th, while her sister Elynor and Millie Couzens were among a small group to crash in the final 2.3km of the 143.7km race.
