Stage three of the Boels Ladies Tour in Holland saw a long solo escape by Omer Shapira, of the Cylance Pro. Team, on the flat roads between Stamproy and Weert, close to the Belgian border. The 124.3km route ended with three-and-a-half laps of an 8km finishing circuit.

Shapira, 23, made a solo attack just 6km into the race. Several attempts by other riders failed to bridge the gap to her, and were reeled in by the peloton.

Her lead was down to 25 seconds with 90km to go, but with the peloton content to stay together, Shapira continued unabated and increased the gap again. Her advantage maxed out at 3:50mins with 32km left to race and only 5km to the start of the local laps in Weert.

Having started the stage 4:12 minutes down on the orange jersey leader, she almost raced herself into the virtual race lead and was deservedly awarded a special prize of ‘Most Combative Rider’.

At the first passage of the finish line, with 24km, or three laps, remaining, her lead was down to two minutes and she was caught by two others just before the bonus lap, two laps before the finish. 

She was unable to stay with these fresh legs and dropped back to be absorbed by the peloton, finishing 2:12 down.

Israel’s Rotem Gafinovitz (Waowdeals Pro Cycling Team) finished in the main bunch sprint, at 2 secs. In 3:28:04.