Lizzie Deignan dedicated Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory to her Trek-Segafredo team after winning one of the most famous one-day races in road cycling.
The London 2012 Olympic silver medallist launched a solo attack and couldn’t be caught on the Belgian roads, narrowly holding off Grace Brown to secure one of the biggest successes of her career.
Deignan had a lead of more than two minutes with 20km to go but had to dig deep in the long descent to the finish, relieved to hold off the Australian for her third victory of the disrupted campaign.
"It's pretty special, we've been waiting to win a classic like this," she said. "I just had the perfect team today, this is for the team.
"The nicest thing about this team is that we're allowed to race on instinct. I thought that I needed to be over La Redoute before Anna (van der Breggen) and Annemeik (van Vleuten), I thought it was the best thing I could do to get over it first.
"At the end I decided to try and chase the motorbikes in front of me rather than think about Grace Brown behind me, because mentally it's just cracking you when you think like that.
"I was just praying the line would come quicker."
🇧🇪 #LBLWomen
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) October 4, 2020
Three stages of happiness when you just won @LiegeBastogneL
1️⃣ disbelief
2️⃣ relief
3️⃣ elation
Congratulations @lizziedeignan what a brilliant victory!! 👏🤩🥇 pic.twitter.com/UVovsB7ZMj
A heavy tailwind ensured a quick start to the 135km race, with the peloton sticking close together in the early stages.
The final 50km saw all that change however, with Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Deignan among a nine-strong breakaway making the move to lead at the Côte de la Vecquée.
The 31-year-old former world champion was happy to bide her time but put the hammer down in the final 30km, taking on the infamous La Redoute climb to perfect effect.
Looking back just once, it was all eyes on the finish line for Deignan and the tactics paid off, crossing the line with nine seconds between her and second-placed Baker.
Another success in this disrupted calendar sees the Brit regain the jersey as the UCI Women’s World Tour leader having narrowly missed out in last month’s World Championships.
Pic: SWpix.com
Sportsbeat 2020