Greig Leach

As in the men's Liege-Bastogne-Liege it was five racers who would be contending for the race honors. Also like the men, the group contained the Rainbow Jersey of World Champion. It was a little odd to see the team leader and champion leading the quintet for the final kilometers, Anna Van Der Breggan (SD Worx). I had not even considered that she would be riding for her teammate, Demi Vollering. Nor could I understand that Vollering was the better sprinter of the two. Van Der Breggan's efforts were making the inevitable attack out of the group just that much more difficult to pull off. Behind the World Champion was the former Polish champion, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), followed by the current European champion, Annemiek Van Vleutin (Movistar). On the tail of the group (the best place to attack from) was the Italian Champion, Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo). At this point there was only two and a half kilometers to race, so everyone was a bit twitchy trying to decide when they should go for victory.