Riejanne Markus solos to victory at Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic Women
Barbara Guarischi second, Marthe Truyen third from the bunch sprint
Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) continued her top form off the back of La Vuelta Femenina, where she finished second overall to Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), winning the one-day Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic.
Markus soloed to the finish line and won by a slim nine seconds ahead of the bunch sprint won by runner-up Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) and third-placed Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck).
"On the final climb of the Paardenveld, I was eager to give it a try. At first, I was disappointed that I was boxed in for a long time because I thought it would be too short to get away," Markus said of her strategy at the finish.
"Eventually, I was able to find a gap and got away solo. The peloton was always close behind me, but I knew I had an advantage with the many corners and rainy roads. I just kept going and thought, 'Let’s see where this ends'. Luckily, I managed to stay away and crossed the finish line solo."
The elite women's field raced 136.5km at the Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic, which consisted of four 35-kilometre laps that included the Grebbeberg and Paardenveld climbs.
With 16km to go, a breakaway of seven riders was caught, and shortly after, Markus launched her winning attack on the final 11km to solo to victory.
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
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