Blaak wins Ronde van Drenthe

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Chantal Blaak (Boels Dolmans) continued her run of good form with a commanding victory in the Boels Ronde van Drenthe, the second round of the inaugural UCI Women's WorldTour.

Following on her victory in Le Samyn des Dames and second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Blaak topped Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) and Ladies Tour of Qatar winner Trixi Worrack (Canyon SRAM), but it was fourth-placed Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) who will take over the WorldTour lead after round 1 winner, world champion Lizzie Armitstead, abandoned the race due to illness.

Blaak, Elvin, Worrack and Van der Breggen changed up the usual tactics for the Dutch race, which features a series of cobblestone sections in the first half, then a circuit that traverses the man-made VAM-berg twice before the finishing circuit.

In recent years, the VAM-berg has been the launching pad for the successful breakaways, but this time it was the final cobblestone sprint that fractured the peloton and created the winning move.

Blaak pushed the pace to claim the pavé sprint with 61km to go, and once she was joined by Elvin, Worrack, and Van der Breggen, all of the major teams except Wiggle-High5 were represented.

A number of crashes in the chasing group only served to extend their lead to over two minutes by the time they crested the VAM-berg for the final time, and it became clear they would stay away until the finish.

The four worked together smoothly until the final circuit, when all were on high alert for attacks. Van der Breggen tried a small surge coming into the final kilometer, but was deftly marked by Blaak. It wasn't until the final bend that Elvin attempted to surprise the others with an early sprint, but Blaak was too powerful, and ran her down before the line.

As Blaak celebrated her victory, Worrack and Van der Breggen fought to the line, and the German took the final podium spot with a well-timed bike throw.

Van der Breggen, the only rider of the four to feature in Strade Bianche, the opening WorldTour round, where she was fifth, took over the WorldTour lead from Armitstead, who remains second overall.

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