Brand solos to women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory

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Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) soloed in to win the Women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Saturday in Ghent. She topped an all Dutch podium, as Chantal Blaak (Boels Dolmans) and Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) finished second and third, respectively.

Ellen Van Dijk (Sunweb) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High 5) were the first to attack in the finale, exploding the field. Brand, Blaak and Van Vleuten caught them, and then Brand then attacked twice, with her second attempt succeeding. She rode the final kilometres alone to take the win.

"It was a really good day. The team were great and supporting me really well by keeping me out of the headwind," Brand said. The girls kept me in a great position, and we were in a perfect situation with Ellen up the road and good support behind. They helped me to maintain a good position ahead of the cobbles and climbs, so I didn’t have to do anything which was great.

"I started the Molenberg first and when the attacks went we got away in a small group. Ellen's gap held well in front which was good for me then I bridged across on the cobblestones when the gap came down. Then we were six with a few strong sprinters so we wanted to get away. With about 10 kilometres to go we started attacking. I had my final attack with about five kilometres to go - this was really hard but Ellen did a great job behind reacting to everything."

Demmy Druyts (Sport Vlaanderen-Etixx) was the first to go in an early break on a chilly, windy morning in Flanders. When her lead got up to 3:30, the other teams started giving chase. She was caught on the Kluisberg, and things started over.

Eventually Van Dijk and Longo Borghini took off together. The two time trial specialists were a danger to go all the way, and built up a lead of more than a minute over their chasers before beginning to lose ground. Blaak and Brand were ultimately able to bridge up to them, with Van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) finally making the catch as well.

Brand and Van Vleuten both initiated attacks from the select front group. Neither could get clear at first, though the aggressive riding saw Spratt dropped off the back.

Brand's second attack proved decisive. The 27-year-old quickly opened up a gap of 10 seconds to the chasers, and only increased the advantage as the kilometres ticked down into Ghent, with teammate Van Dijk helping mark those behind. Brand crossed the line with plenty of time to celebrate her first victory of the season.

15 seconds later, Blaak won the sprint to claim runner-up honors for the second straight year ahead of Van Vleuten, with Van Dijk and Longo Borghini just behind. Spratt finished 11 seconds later, with the rest of the field more than a minute and a half down. Jolien D'Hoore led the next group across the line 1:47 behind Brand.

"It was a great victory by Lucinda and for the whole team – it's a really good feeling," said Sunweb coach Hans Timmermans. "The plan was to have Lucinda as the leader and use Ellen van Dijk and Leah Kirchmann in the breaks from Paterberg onwards. This worked perfectly as Ellen was away with one other and they stayed clear for a long time.

"Then Lucinda was in the chase over the Molenberg which is where we expected the split to go. When she was in the chase she didn’t have to ride with Ellen up the road and Ellen could wait for her to bridge. They both were great in the final and were always in control. The rest did a strong ride too. Their positioning was always good and the teamwork was fantastic so we can be very happy all round."

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