Amy Pieters won the women’s 2014 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad today.
At the 65 kilometer mark, Pieters, Emma Johansson and Bols-Dolmans teammates Elizabeth Armitstead and Christine Majerus succeeded in riding clear of the peloton on the climb of the Paterberg.
However, Majerus lost contact with the group on the climb of the Molenberg, 35 kilometers from the finish, as a group of 20 riders continued to chase the leaders in earnest.
Pieters proved to be the fastest of the trio as they sprinted for the line, while Johansson claimed second and Armitstead third.
Following today’s race, Pieters had this to say:
“Four of us got away on the Paterberg and then on the Paderstraat it dropped to three. I knew they were good sprinters too but I was confident in myself and knew that if it came back together we had Kirsten behind.
“I started the sprint from the front and it really was all or nothing. What a start to the season. The team work was fantastic again today. It’s great to be part of such a good group and to have the support that we do.
“The bike was amazing today. You can really tell that Giant have spent a lot of time making it specific to women.”
Team Giant-Shimano coach, Ruud Verhagen said:
“The tactics for today were for Amy to be the leader. It worked out really well and when she was in front we were in the great situation of having Kirsten Wild and Maaike Polspoel behind to keep the pressure on the other teams.
“We expected that the break would go early but we didn’t think that such a small group would make it all the way to the finish. The gap went out to 1’50″ at which point we put some pressure on behind to make sure that we still had other cards to play. It worked out perfectly and it’s amazing that we still have a 100% win record. It’s like a dream.”
Top 25 Finishers
1 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 3:30:15 2 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica – AIS 3 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 4 Liesbet De Vocht (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:00:06 5 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 6 Sofie De Vuyst (Bel) Futurumshop.Nl – Zannata 7 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Specialized – Lululemon 8 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Hitec Products 9 Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 10 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 11 Irene San Sebastian Lasa (Spa) 12 Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 13 Ellen Van Dijk (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 14 Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team15 Kaat Hannes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Pro – Duo 16 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 17 Latoya Brulee (Bel) Futurumshop.Nl – Zannata 18 Jessie Daams (Bel) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 19 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 20 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized – Lululemon 21 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 22 Audrey Cordon (Fra) Hitec Products 0:00:11 23 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Orica – AIS 24 Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:13 25 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:00:22
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