Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) claimed a stunning victory at Brabantse Pijl, overcoming the defending champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx) in a six-woman sprint at the top of the S-Bend climb in Overijse.
The 25-year-old launched straight into action as Vollering, winner of Strade Bianche and Dwars door Vlaanderen, opened the sprint after being led out by teammate Marlen Reusser.
Persico wrestled with her bike and threw her head from side-to-side as she muscled her way in front of a fading Vollering, with Lianne Lippert (Movistar) also put to the sword and consigned to the final spot on the podium.
There was a two-second gap back to rest of the elite group that emerged over the Hagaard and Moskestraat climbs on the final lap of the Overijse circuit, with Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) taking fourth and Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo) fifth ahead of Reusser.
Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Parkhotel-Valkenburg), the final member of the group, placed seventh at 13 seconds after being tailed off on the S-Bocht, while Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) led the reduced peloton home 25 seconds down.
"From the start, in my head, I wanted to win today," said Persico. "I was fourth at the Tour of Flanders and was not happy, and I wanted to take this victory as soon as possible, so I'm really happy.
"I choose to stay in Vollering's wheel. I knew in this sprint you can win in the last 20 or 30 metres so I exited in the last 30 metres and I'm really happy for this victory."
After a relentless day of attacking racing, with no breakaway going clear, the winning move was made on the last of three laps of the 22km finishing circuit, which featured four climbs: Hagaard, Moskestraat, Holstheide, and S-Bocht.
It came on the cobbled ramp of Hagaard, and it was Reusser who used the smooth gutter strip to power clear, with Persico, Van Anrooij, Chabbey, and Vanpachtenbeke scrambling to join her over the top.
They gained a 30-second gap by the steeper Moskestraat, where Vollering launched an assault from behind, taking Lippert with her and sweeping up the dropped Vanpachtenbeke before bridging to make it seven riders out front with 7km to go.
There were a couple of attacks but the rest of the heavily reduced peloton dramatically started to close in, forcing SD Worx to sacrifice Reusser to keep the move away. The Swiss rider did just that and then rode most of the final S-Bocht ascent on the front in what effectively turned into a lead-out for Vollering.
The Dutchwoman, however, couldn't finish it off, marking another rare defeat for SD Worx this Spring after a different kind of shock at Paris-Roubaix.
Perisco, meanwhile, walked away with her first win of the 2023 season and her first for UAE Team ADQ after transferring from Valcar over the winter.
"I hope this is only the start of a good season with this team," she said.
How it unfolded
The race started out in dry conditions on Wednesday morning and the early attacks would set the tone for a day of constant attacks and accelerations but no real breakaway until deep into the finale.
Alice Palazzi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Lauren Stephens (EF-Tibco-SVB) went away over the early spate of climbs but were brought back by the Rue de Nivelles, the fourth climb in the opening 30km.
Nathalie Bex (Duolar-Chevalmeire) attacked ahead of the Rue Francois Dubois but on the climb itself she was caught and dropped by Maria Novolodskaya (Lifeplus-Wahoo).
The Russian took a solo lead onto the finishing circuit but was caught on the first ascent of the Moskestraat after 65 km. After the famous S-Bocht climb, the finish line was crossed for the first time with 65km to go, with three full laps of the circuit to come.
Elinor Barker (Uno-X) was the best rider to make a move, going solo ahead of the next ascent of Moskestraat, where she was caught by a select group as the bunch fragmented. However, the second peloton came back for the Holstheide climb and the race remained together despite several accelerations from big names such as Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo). A quiet ascent of S-Bocht led into the final two laps, where Vollering started to launch a volley of accelerations.
The first action came on the Haggard cobbled climb, with Pauline Rooijakkers (Canyon-SRAM) and Liane Lippert (Movistar) going clear before Vollering brought it back, although she shredded the bunch in doing so. Onto the Moskestraat, Lippert went again and an elite 10-rider group went clear over the top, but things came back together for a reduced peloton, with Vollering issuing repeated accelerations without splitting things.
On the approach to the S-Bocht, Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) attacked and was joined in turn by Kristen Faulkner (Jayco-AlUla), Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) and Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma), but they were caught by the top and the bell rang out for the final lap with a reduced peloton of 25 riders.
The rain started to fall on the final lap and Reusser forced the issue on the downhills before lighting it up on the Haggard climb, using the smooth but wet strip to the side of the cobbles to power away. Only four riders were able to follow over the top: Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo), Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Parkhotel-Valkenburg).
They gained 30 seconds as the pace drained from the chase but Vollering launched an assault from behind on the Moskestraat, which only Lippert could follow. Picking up Vanpachtenbeke, who was dropped from the front on the climb, they steadily made their way over, making the junction to make it seven our front with 7km to go. However, the rest of the heavily reduced peloton weren't far behind, and closed to 20 seconds with 2.5km to go. That was the cue for Reusser, who'd tried to slip away alone, to work to try and keep the move away for the final S-Bocht.
Vanpachtenbeke did a brief stint on the front on the 1.1km climb but was dropped when Reusser came back to the front to lead out for Vollering, who launched with just under 200m to go but was powerless as she watched Perisco come past just in time.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
