Dideriksen wins Lotto Belgium Tour stage 2

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Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) claimed victory on stage 2 of the Lotto Belgium tour, beating Dutch rider Amy Pieters and Emma Johansson (Sweden) in a small group sprint.

Poland's Anna Plichta took over the race lead from Natalie Van Gogh (Parkhotel Valkenburg), who missed the split and finished 2:12 off the pace, with Johansson now second at 1 second and Dideriksen in third, two further seconds behind.

The 115.7km stage out and back from Moorslede included a cobbled section 2100 meters in length that provided the main selection of the day. It was here that the 20-rider move went clear, and with Lotto Soudal, the Dutch and Danish teams well represented, there was little hope of the breakaway being caught.

Several attacks threatened to split the group, but in the end Lotto Soudal kept the race together, with Dideriksen taking the stage win.

"The cobblestone section was really tough. Everyone wanted to be in front there, so it was a sprint ahead of it," Dideriksen said. "Also I was scared that a gap would fall in front of me. Together with two teammates I was part of the big breakaway of twenty, although I was the last to join the group. We worked together well until the penultimate lap, then there were several attacks. If someone of our team would have been able to jump away it would have been good, but we actually aimed for a sprint. I was riding in first position when we got out of the last corner with 150 metres to go. That was perfect. The next two stages, we’ll keep attacking to try to take another victory with the team."

The overall race lead went to Plichta, who had been second on the opening stage. "This stage was hard," Plichta said. "We’re here with the national team to prepare for the World Championships and we wanted to make something of this stage. I was second on GC after yesterday, six seconds behind Natalie Van Gogh, so the jersey was within reach. We want to keep the jersey in the team. For me this is the first race ever in Belgium, so Friday will be my first meeting with the Flemish hills. My teammate Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who was also part of the breakaway, definitely has a chance to end up high in the overall ranking."

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