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Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) delivered a stunner Wednesday to time it just right on the Mur de Huy to win Fleche Wallonne Féminine.
Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) looked to be in the driver’s seat only to have Pieterse barrel past her for the victory.
The Dutch superstar hit the famed “corner” after a big pull from teammate Juliette Labous, who turned the screws midway up the brutal wall.
Pieterse had the legs to follow and then cracked Vollering to finally win a major spring classic after a season of close calls and frustration.
“Demi got a really good lead out from Juliette and I decided to stick on the wheel and just wait, wait, wait a bit longer and then I think halfway through the Mur, I was like, ‘they should be hurting a lot’, but I still felt quite good actually,” Pieterse said. “I knew I just had to wait until around 150 meters to go to really make the next acceleration. After that, I did not look back, so I don’t know how close it was in the end.”
Elisa Longo Borghini kicked to third to round out the podium, with defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma fourth.
“I gave everything I had 100 meters from the finish, I was pushing hard, and I’m very happy with my third place,” Longo Borghini said. “I arrived here as an outsider, and I will be again for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
“On Sunday, I hope it will be decided in La Redoute. That would be a more favorable scenario, the right place to attack. Because in La Roche-aux-Faucons, it will probably be too late for me. I can’t wait for Sunday.”
Cédrine Kerboal (EF Education-Oatly) lit things up with a late-race solo flyer, but was caught by the peloton on the penultimate climb.
A relatively big group of about 35 riders hit the Mur. And in like most editions, the race was decided there.
