With around 40 km to go, a breakaway went clear without any Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders, meaning the team was initially not represented at the front of the race. This was later corrected in the closing stages, when a selection formed that did include Reijnhout up front. That group of around 12 riders would ultimately fight for the stage win, meaning the race was decided at the front and the peloton played no role in the finale.

In that select group, racing was hard all the way to the finish, with Reijnhout holding her own among the attackers. She eventually crossed the line in ninth place after a strong effort in the final.

Beyond the day result, there was also satisfaction within the team about how the race unfolded. Sports director Rutger Tijssen highlighted the success in the secondary classifications: “Our goal was to win the intermediate classification, and we achieved that with Nienke in the sprint classification. The girls did a really good job. We only started with four riders in this race, and if you miss the move in the breakaway, it becomes very difficult and you just fall a bit short to close the gap,” he said.
 

“On the one hand I am happy with how we rode, raced and communicated, but there is always room for improvement,” Tijssen added.

Rosita Reijnhout herself looked back with satisfaction but with a sense of realism: “I haven’t had to sprint like that very often, but I made the best of it. We are here this weekend with a small team, but a very strong one,” said the Dutch rider.

Tomorrow brings another similar stage at the Festival Elsy Jacobs, although a less selective race scenario is expected. With a course of just over 120 kilometres, everything seems set for a bunch sprint, where the fast finishers will once again have their chance in the finale.