Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) continued her top form off the back of La Vuelta Femenina, where she finished second overall to Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), winning the one-day Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic.
Markus soloed to the finish line and won by a slim nine seconds ahead of the bunch sprint won by runner-up Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) and third-placed Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck).
"On the final climb of the Paardenveld, I was eager to give it a try. At first, I was disappointed that I was boxed in for a long time because I thought it would be too short to get away," Markus said of her strategy at the finish.
"Eventually, I was able to find a gap and got away solo. The peloton was always close behind me, but I knew I had an advantage with the many corners and rainy roads. I just kept going and thought, 'Let’s see where this ends'. Luckily, I managed to stay away and crossed the finish line solo."
The elite women's field raced 136.5km at the Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic, which consisted of four 35-kilometre laps that included the Grebbeberg and Paardenveld climbs.
With 16km to go, a breakaway of seven riders was caught, and shortly after, Markus launched her winning attack on the final 11km to solo to victory.
Results
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