In the Dutch hill classic, five riders went on the attack early on. The breakaway-riders built up a three-minute lead, but were caught 70 kilometres from the finish. On the third (of a total of five) passage over the Cauberg, the peloton split, leaving a group of around thirty riders.

Femke de Vries, Marianne Vos and Van Dam were in the leading group, with Van Dam in particular making a strong impression. Blasi launched an attack early in the finale and took Nienke Vinke with her. On the Cauberg, the Spaniard left her fellow escapee behind and slowly but surely extended her lead over the chasing group.

At the foot of the final climb up the Cauberg, the gap was already a minute, meaning victory was virtually assured for Blasi. Blasi held on and crossed the finish line solo. Van Dam sprinted to seventh place in the group behind. "It was a tough race. As far as I know, this was the toughest edition ever", sports director Jos van Emden said.

"At one point, we had three riders in the group of fifteen, which is just fine. I didn’t think it was up to us to set the pace, as we didn’t have the top favourite. Hats off to Blasi, she rode incredibly hard. Sarah nearly sprinted for a podium place and eventually finished seventh. All in all, I’m satisfied."

Two-time winner Marianne Vos experienced not her best day on the bike. "It was a gruelling race. FDJ set a fast pace early on, and you know then it’s going to be a tough day. At one point I dropped, but I did everything I could to get back. I managed that, but by then I’d pretty much run out of steam."

With a strong Van Dam by her side, Vos put herself at the service of her teammate. "We wanted to get as many of us as possible onto the local laps, so that we could potentially attack in the final. I didn’t have the legs myself, so I tried to set Sarah up as best I could at the foot of the final climb up the Cauberg."