Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) scored her third victory in Leeuw-Oetingen on Wednesday, but not in a sprint – instead attacking on the Zavelberg to claim a more attacking win.
Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek) was the only rider able to go with Wiebes as she powered away in the final 3km, but settled for second as the Dutchwoman easily sprinted to victory on the line in Oetingen.
Megan Jastrab (UAE Team ADQ) took third, outsprinting Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal) from a two-rider chase group.
Wiebes started the day as the favourite to win the Belgian race, but it didn't end up in a sprint as expected, with the Dutchwoman using her growing climbing strengths to make the decisive move earlier on with an acceleration that blew the reduced group apart in a matter of seconds.
This marks Wiebes' first European win of the season after steamrolling the UAE Tour, and is a symbolic show of strength ahead of the Classics to come, which include title defences at Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem.
How it unfolded
Formerly known as the GP Oetingen, the Ixina Leeuw-Oetingen took in 140km, 19 cobbled sectors, and six finishing loops featuring several short, cobbled bergs, with the 7.1%, 600m Zavelberg coming just over 2km from the finish line.
There was surprisingly little action in the first 50km before the circuits began, with no early break getting away. Hitting the finish line for the first time with 79km to go, a group of four attackers was briefly away, but they were brought back quite quickly.
The next action came thanks to echelons in the Belgian countryside, forcing a split in the peloton, but again the split was soon closed and the peloton was all back together onto the next lap, though the action did see riders begin to drop out of the bunch.
Heading into the final 45km, SD Worx-Protime, AG Insurance-Soudal and Lidl-Trek were all keeping the pace high in the bunch. Every time they hit a climb over the next two laps, the pace would explode, but no one could really get away – though these constant accelerations did whittle down the group. Positioning was also key, as a couple of crashes or riders unclipping did catch many riders out on the narrow climbs.
This all meant that it was still a grouped bunch heading into the final 20km, with a sprint looking increasingly likely as Wiebes seemed unperturbed by all the action, but no one wanted to just sit back and let that happen. With 12km to go, Anne Dijkstra (VolkerWessels) launched an attack out of the bunch, taking Marta Lach (SD Worx-Protime) with her, but that didn't last long and all was back together into the final 10km.
The teams started to line up in trains as if a sprint was coming, but the repeated cobbles and climbs of the final lap meant it was not so simple, and the group quickly shrank down and the race turned into a much more attacking one, not a bunch gallop after all.
On the Zavelberg with less than 3km to go, it was Wiebes herself who attacked, jumping away from the peloton with Fleur Moors, and the pair quickly had a significant gap on two chasers, as the peloton dramatically split up behind.
With so little road left and Wiebes powering on – not needing nor asking for contributions from Moors – the pair were away for the win, and in the final hundred metres when Wiebes opened up her acceleration, it was clear already that the victory would be hers, her third crown in Oetingen.
Results
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