March 1/14 22:53 pm - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Women

Posted by Editoress on 03/1/14
 

Amy Pieters wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Amy Pieters has won the women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad today in Belgium, with Kirsten Wild taking a strong fifth place from the chase group behind.

Amy was part of a three rider breakaway that formed in the middle of the race. It was touch and go as to whether they would hold off a fast closing bunch but they held on and Amy proved to have the fastest legs on the line.
It is her second win of the season after her stage victory at the Ladies Tour of Qatar and with this win The Team Giant-Shimano women’s team maintain their 100% record.

After the finish, Amy said: “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 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.
“The bike was amazing today. You can really tell that Giant have spent a lot of time making it specific to women.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Ruud Verhagen said: “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.

“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.”
Team Giant-Shimano press release