The Ardennes classics campaign kicked off on Sunday 20 April with the Amstel Gold Race Femmes. On the steep roads of Limburg, the team was there once again. In a nerve-wracking 157.4-kilometre race, Juliette Labous took part in the decisive breakaway before crossing the line in fourth place.
After a first part of the race marked by a large amount of skimming on the hilly roads of Limburg, the decision was made in the very last lap. The favourites of the day were too attentive and left the field open to the leading group, without being able to close the gap afterwards. It was with around fifteen kilometres to go that a quintet broke away, Juliette Labous alongside Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx), Ellen Van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), Puck Pieterse (FENIX-Deceuninck) and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) to form the decisive breakaway.The Ardennes classics campaign opened this Sunday 20 April with the Amstel Gold Race Femmes. On the steep roads of Limburg, the team was once again present. In a nerve-wracking 157.4-kilometre race, Juliette Labous took part in the decisive breakaway before crossing the line in fourth place.
Consistent in her efforts and attentive to the movements of the race, the French champion never dropped out of the leading group. But on the final climb of the Cauberg, with less than three kilometres to go, she couldn’t prevent a decisive attack from Bredewold, who broke away to take victory. Juliette Labous crossed the line in fourth place, at the foot of the podium.
The next major event will take place on Wednesday 23 April, with the Flèche Wallonne, where the fearsome Mur de Huy awaits the puncheuses.