Saturday 28 February 2015 17:54, UK
Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead continued her strong start to the season by finishing third in the Belgian one-day classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday.
Anna van der Breggen claimed victory ahead of fellow Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk after the pair had broken away from a leading group of favourites and hung on to the finish.
The chasers crossed the line 14 seconds later, with Armitstead winning a sprint to claim the final place on the podium.
The result followed her two stage wins and overall victory at the Ladies’ Tour of Qatar earlier this month.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was the first classic of the season.
Result
1 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Rabobank-Liv, 3:32:16
2 Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Boels-Dolmans, same time
3 Lizzie Armitstead (GB) Boels-Dolmans, +14secs
4 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels-Dolmans, st
5 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Velocio-SRAM, st
