Pieters wins elite women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

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Amy Pieters (Team Giant-Shimano) won the women’s edition Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium on Saturday beating Emma Johansson (Orica – AIS) and Elizabeth Armitstead (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) into second and third, respectfully.

The trio broke clear midway through the race and despite a concentrated effort to reel in the break they survived with Liesbet De Vocht (Lotto Belisol Ladies) leading home the bunch in fourth.

The win was Pieters second triumph of the season so far after she also won a stage at the Ladies Tour of Qatar last month.

“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 [Wild] 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.

With Wild in such strong form following her overall success and dominance in Qatar, (Team Giant-Shimano) played the perfect tactic with Pieters in the move and Wild covering from behind.

“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,” said their team coach.

“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.”

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