Armitstead solos to inaugural Gent-Wevelgem victory

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While it was a disappointing day in the men's race for her compatriot Mark Cavendish, Great Britain's Lizzie Armitstead (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) impressed everyone by winning the inaugural staging of the women's Gent-Wevlegem cobbled classic in Belgium on Sunday. Armitstead, who is the British national road race champion and one of her country's big hopes for gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, broke clear of the pack with 25km to go in the 113km race and was only briefly challenged by Liesbeth De Vocht (Rabobank) on her drive to the line. Iris Slappendel (Rabobank) and Jessie Daams, a teammate of Armitstead's, finished in the other podium positions.

"It's a great start to my Olympic year," said Armitstead, who also won at Omloop van het Hageland earlier in March. 'It's very motivating to win alone after such a long break. It's also wonderful to be able to win in the national jersey, something very special for me.'

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