Pieters wins GP de Plouay

Amy Pieters (Boels Dolmans) won the women's GP de Plouay out of a 15-strong group after an animated final 20 kilometres with many attacks. The Dutchwoman beat Marianne Vos (WaowDeals) and Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) to the line. With her second place, Vos defends the purple UCI Women's WorldTour leader's jersey.

The 125.5-kilometre race consisted of five laps around Plouay. The first four laps were 27.7 km each, including the climbs of the Côte du Lézot and Côte de Ty Marrec as well as a number of smaller hills as well as a slightly-rising detour along the Scorff river and back again. The final lap left out the part along the river for a crispy 14.7 kilometres that still included all main climbs.

Katia Ragusa (BePink) went solo halfway through the second lap, but was caught again when the peloton crosses the finish line to start lap three. The pace on the climbs was high, and riders were getting dropped at the back of the peloton, but there were no real attacks until Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) got a gap on the last of the longer laps with 34 km to go. Cromwell was caught after a few kilometres, only for Hanna Nilsson (BTC City Ljubljana) to show that she is back from injury by opening up a 25-second gap on the peloton.

Nilsson's attempt was doomed with 25 km left as the top teams battled for position ahead of the penultimate ascent of the Ty Marrec. Attacks by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (both Cervélo-Bigla) led to a select group of fifteen riders. This group was further whittled down through accelerations by the two Cervélo-Bigla riders and Rasa Leleivyte (Aromitalia Vaiano) before Uttrup Ludwig, Marianne Vos, and Eugenia Bujak (BTC City Ljubljana) formed a three-rider break.

This trio was caught just as they rolled out on the final lap of 14.7 kilometres, and there was a regrouping that enabled a second group to catch up again, forming a peloton of about 40 riders. On the Côte du Lézot, Uttrup Ludwig attacked yet again and was followed by Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb) and Vos, but this move was closed down by Pieters. Brief accelerations by a.o. Danielle Rowe (WaowDeals) and Clara Koppenburg (Cervélo-Bigla) got nowhere, and then Mitchelton-Scott took over in the descent towards the Ty Marrec climb.

Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) was the first to attack on the final ascent. This was immediately countered by Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) who got a small gap, chased by a group of nine. Vos jumped to Longo Borghini at the 4-kilometre mark, but the two were caught a few hundred metres later.

Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans), Moolman-Pasio, and again Guarnier tried to get away, but it was only Soraya Paladin (Alé Cipollini) who could shake off the rest with 1.3 km to the finish. Paladin held a slim three-second advantage with 1000 metres to go, and on the finishing straight Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) and Bujak were closing in on her.

Behind this, Vos was winding up her sprint, going to the left side of the road and passing Paladin 200 metres from the line. Meanwhile, Pieters had followed Spratt to the right side and then sprinted on her own in the middle lane, coming past Vos with about 50 metres left and taking a clear victory. Coryn Rivera came just short against Vos for second, but beat Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM) into third place.

Although she was beaten to victory in Plouay, Vos defended her lead in the UCI Women's WorldTour that continues with the six-day Boels Ladies Tour, starting in Arnhem on Tuesday, 28 August. 

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