Women's Tour: Pieters wins stage 2

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Amy Pieters (Boels Dolmans) powered to victory in Stoke-on-Trent on stage 2 of the Women's Tour. Pieters led the strung out pack around the tight final bend to win by a bike's length over British Champion Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM). Ellen van Dijk (Team Sunweb) came over the line in third place to complete the podium.

WM3 Pro Cycling pairing Marianne Vos and Kasia Niewiadoma finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to keep their places in the overall classification.

Boels Dolmans rode an aggressive finale, with Christine Majerus trying to get into a breakaway on a number of occasions. The bunch was much more cagey after Niewiadoma's success on Wednesday and the riders struggled to break the elastic. In the end, the team decided to cut their losses and put their forces behind Pieters in the bunch gallop and she duly delivered.

"That was an ideal situation for us," Pieters said. "We didn't have to chase. When everyone of Christine's group was back in the peloton, no-one really tried anymore. We left if open to see how the stage would develop. At a certain point, we talked to each other and decided I was going to go for the sprint."

Stage 2 of the Women's Tour brought the riders northwest to Stoke-on-Trent, the scene of last year's GC-defining stage. It was due to be another tough stage for the peloton with two first category climbs in the final 50 kilometres of the stage. The weather wasn't going to make it any nicer of a day with rain falling on the peloton throughout much of the stage.

Right from the gun there were riders trying to jump clear of the bunch, but WM3 Pro Cycling would not allow them to stay away for very long. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio suffered an early puncture, but some quick work by her mechanics had her back on her way and in the bunch in no time at all.

Former champion and birthday girl Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM) was one of those to try her hand in a move, but the peloton knew that it would be too dangerous to let her gain too much time. She was allowed little more than 20 seconds before the peloton was hunting her down. After seeing her teammate Marta Bastionelli try and fail, Anna Trevisi (Ale Cipollini) attacked after 54 kilometres of racing. BePink's Alison Jackson followed her soon after and the pair were allowed a roomy 1:30 advantage before they too were taken back by the bunch 30 kilometres after their attack went.

A six-woman break went clear almost immediately after the catch, with Majerus being joined by Clara Koppenburg (Cervelo-Bigla), Anna Plichta (WM3 Pro Cycling), Sarah Roy (Orica-Scott), Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) and Trixi Worrack (Canyon-SRAM). They built a healthy lead over the bunch before Brand took it upon herself to attack on the first major climb of the day at Ipstones.

Brand's former companions were brought back as she pushed on alone. A strong rider, she would pose a serious risk if she was given too much space. Her attack forced the pace up behind and caused a split in the bunch with some serious consequences. Defending champion Lizzie Deignan (Boels Dolmans) missed the cut and would eventually lose more than six minutes, effectively putting an end to her overall ambitions. Fortunately for the Boels Dolmans team, Anna van der Breggen had made it through.

Brand used all her reserves to build up a gap of 1:20 but it would not be enough to keep the chasers at bay. With seven kilometres to go, she was brought back into the peloton and almost immediately spat out the back. A few more riders tried and failed to go clear, but it would come down to the fastest legs in the run to the line with Pieters to claim her second individual victory of the season.

Amy Pieters of @boelsdolmansct wins Stage 2 of the #OVOWT here in #StokeonTrent! Fighting right to the end! pic.twitter.com/hCokQkvSt0

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