World champion Amalie Dideriksen (Boels Dolmans) won a four-up sprint in the Dutch town of Hoogeveen on Saturday to stand on the top step of the Ronde van Drenthe podium. The Dane was part of a late race escape that broke away from an elite selection that took shape following the third and final ascent of the VAMberg.
"It was hard. We were always on 10-15 seconds the entire time," said Dideriksen. "We didn't know if it would come back. I tried to keep the gap but save some energy for the sprint."
Dideriksen was up against Italian road champion Elena Cecchini (Canyon-Sram), Women's WorldTour leader and Strade Bianche winner Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb). Cecchini sparked the breakaway with an attack around 15 kilometres from the finish. The group cooperated well to fend off a chase group that had only seven riders, including two of Dideriksen's teammates.
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Longo Borghini, easily the weakest sprinter amongst the four, jumped inside the final kilometre. The trio pounced and handily shut the move down. Brand was first around the final corner and first to open her sprint.
"I thought I had lost it in the corner," admitted Dideriksen. "There were two in front of me, and I didn't want that, but I still managed to get it in the sprint."
With more than a bike length ahead of Cecchini, Dideriksen celebrated her first UCI Women's WorldTour win crossing the line. Cecchini settled for second place ahead of Brand.
How it unfolded
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