Amstel Gold 2021 cycling - Marianne Vos sprints to victory in a dramatic finish to the race

ByEurosport

Updated 18/04/2021 at 15:56 GMT

Marianne Vos finished off the Amstel Gold one-day race in style on Sunday. Kasia Niewiadoma and Elisa Longo Borghini were locked in a battle just beyond the base of the Cauberg with 2km to go, only for the Jumbo-Visma rider to lead the chasing group past the pair and into a first-place finish with a late dash to the line.

'Phenomenal sprint' - Vos storms to Amstel Gold victory

Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) profited from indecision to snatch victory in the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition.

In a bizarre finale, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek–Segafredo) relinquished a healthy lead after failing to work together.

Niewiadoma was screaming at Longo Borghini to share the workload, but the Italian was content to sit on the Pole’s back wheel – allowing an eight-strong chase group containing Vos to catch them with 400m to go.

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Longo Borghini then went on the attack but she was no match for Vos, who broke clear from her rival’s slipstream and raced clear.

Vos almost saw victory snatched away from her on the line after sitting up to celebrate too early, but a photo finish showed she had won the day.

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Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) finished second with Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) in third.

"I was out of breath for the whole last lap and there were several attacks," Vos said at the finish in her post-race interview.

"Grace Brown had a good opportunity and then, of course, the two in the front on the final climb the Cauberg but when it was a final sprint of course you have a little bit of energy left for the last few hundred metres.

"I expected a hard race but it was even harder than expected."