Longo Borghini shows who the top favorite for the Tour of Flanders is with a magnificent solo in Dwars door Vlaanderen

After the fiasco in the men's race - where Visma | Lease a Bike messed up a superior position and lost to Neilson Powless in the sprint - it was the ladies' turn. An excellent starting field in Flanders is Lotte Kopecky, Puck Pieterse, and Elisa Longo Borghini. However, there was no Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering, so it was a more open battle than in the previous classics.

The pace was high from the start. This was partly due to the strong wind, making it difficult all day. It also made an early break difficult, partly because Lidl-Trek maintained the high pace for team leader Elisa Balsamo. The first breakaways came halfway through the race: with 70 kilometers to go, Kopecky accelerated, but the world champion did not get away. Marlen Reusser was the one who did get away. The Movistar rider pushed hard and took Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime), Amber Kraak (FDJ-SUEZ), and Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) with her.

The final was quickly opened. It was no longer up to the women besides Balsamo in the peloton, so Fenix-Deceuninck took responsibility. With 40 kilometers to go, it was Puck Pieterse who attacked on the Eikenberg. She broke up the favorites: Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma, and Kopecky went with her, but it was Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma, and Ellen van Dijk who rode away on the cobblestone section of Doorn. The Italian champion then set off on her adventure: she closed the gap between Reusser and Kraak and went solo searching for gold.

Reusser and Kraak tried to keep up but were eventually left behind. It seemed like a simple victory until Pieterse picked up the pace again. She reduced the gap by half after 16 seconds, but it became difficult with Balsamo, Kopecky, Bredewold, Niewiadoma, and Elisa Chabbey on her wheel. The cooperation stalled, and so the Italian rider managed to stay ahead. Kopecky - who got into trouble several times - won the sprint for second place ahead of Elisa Balsamo.