"We simply ride to create the best possible chance of victory": Anna van der Breggen speaks after Brabantse Pijl

Her last race before the Ardennes block was back on March 15, when she finished second in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The fact that she was immediately able to make the difference against the competition uphill in Flemish Brabant therefore caused a some surprise. "I rode away alone, which I didn't immediately expect at that point."

Van der Breggen bridged across tp the leading duo of Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) and Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels). "But I couldn't drop Loes. If I cycle to the finish with Loes, the chance of me winning isn't very high. To drop her, it’s all just a bit too short. For me, it's difficult to drop Loes on those climbs," she explained.

And so, she made contact with her teammates. "Mischa had already said in the meantime that she was feeling good, and then I made the decision to go for Mischa, which almost worked," says Van der Breggen, who did not take the bait when the Sporza interviewer suggested she was acting as a Directeur Sportif again. "Everyone on the bike has to make those kinds of decisions. I have the disadvantage of not being that fast, and I have to drop other riders."

"We simply ride to create the best possible chance of victory," Van der Breggen declares. "I tried that by trying to drop Loes on the Moskesstraat, but it didn't work. And then you know that Loes is explosive on a finish like that, and it's up to me to make the call that we go for Lotte and Mischa. We had also discussed that beforehand."

In the end, Bredewold came a few metres short of keeping Celia Gery (FDJ-Suez) from the win, but: "Mischa also said: Lotte wanted to help me, but it's not easy to stay in Lotte's wheel. She learns from that as well."

Heading towards the Amstel Gold Race, Brabantse Pijl was a good stimulus for Van der Breggen. "I felt good and that’s a nice start, because normally I always need some time to get into it after an altitude training camp. Going deep like that is just a bit different from training, so I’m satisfied with how it went."

"If you can ride a race like that, you have to be satisfied. That looks promising for next week. Well, Sunday already, it’s all in one week!" she corrects herself with a smile. "I’m really looking forward to it and I’m in a good position with the group, so I’m excited for that."