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Alice Sharpe has put in a very strong ride at the inaugural Scheldeprijs and so made a little piece of Irish cycling history in being the first Irish women to finish the event.
The road and track international was the only Irish starter in the 150-woman field, with her Irish team mates on Team Rupelcleaning not racing the 136km race starting and finishing in Schoten.
And while a large main bunch came to the finish intact today, more than 50 riders were listed as non-finishers with others being spat out the back of the group on the final lap of the circuit today.
Sharpe held her place well in the group; calling on her experience, and legs, to get her through on a cold day in the wind when positioning was very important.
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Daniek Hengeveld (GT Krush Tunap), an 18-year-old Dutch riding making her debut in the pro peloton this year, spent most of the final 50km of today's race out front on her own and was only swept up by the peloton inside the final 10km.
And while Letizia Borghesi (Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano) went for a long one after Hengeveld had been caught, she too was recaptured, paving the way for what seemed like an inevitable bunch sprint.
When the pace was ramped up by the bigger teams, especially BikeExchance and Movistar, inside the final couple of kilometres the levels of fatigue were clear to see, with gaps opening.
Lorena Wiebes, the 22-year-old Dutch sprinter signed by Team DSM (them Team Sunweb) in the middle of last season after a protracted and difficult departure from Parkhotel Valkenburg, took victory today; her first of the season.
She just squeezed past Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), who took it up very early in the sprint and looked like she may hang on for the win only to be passed by Wiebes as the line approached.
Elisa Balsamo (Valcar-Travel & Service) took 3rd place, with Alice Sharpe in 6th at 10 seconds; that time gap arising in the field in the final dash to the finish line.
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