Brody Chapman, who energized the Douard de Flenderen with two breakaways earlier this week, was back in action in the Tour of Flanders women's race. The Australian FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine futuscope (open in new tab), who just turned pro in 2018 at the age of 27, was one of six riders to break away with just under 30km to go. When the group split at Oude Kwaremont, Chapman (open in new tab) went solo with SD Worx rider Marlen Reusser. After the two were caught in Paterberg by Reusser's teammates Lotte Kopecky and Chantal van den Broeck-Black, Annemieke van Fruten (Movistar), and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM), the group of six formed again, Kopecky, van Fruten and van den Broeck-Black cleared to contest the win.

Chapman was expected to finish in the top six until she was caught just before the Tour of Flanders women's finish by another group that included two teammates, Grace Brown and Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig. But with such a strong ride, Chapman showed that she was more than just the domestique of her FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope teammates. The crowd was like a festival," he said. But I think I worked harder today than at the festival,' said the 30-year-old Australian. When I was with Marlen, I thought I might be able to play for the championship. But when I went back to Paterberg with Annemiek van Fruten and Lotte Kopecky, I thought: 'Oh, no: oh, no.'"

"But at that point I was trying to stay with the group and hold on as long as I could. I didn't really know my teammates were behind me, but when they came back I just tried to make it count. It was a new race this year. The Koppenberg is new and the scenario is new. I definitely learned a lot and had a lot of fun."

Chapman enjoyed his first race in Koppenberg. He said, "Koppenberg was great. I actually ran Koppenberg three or four years ago, and I said, 'I hope you run the women's race one day. For me, Koppenberg was fine. But luckily it wasn't raining. 'I'd love to win, but I'm excited. Racing in front of the Belgian fans was the best time of my life. I can't complain. FDJ leader Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig described herself as "cooked" after the race. 'I knew the final was going to be a super aggressive race. It was a very hard race, but not an ideal situation because we had to chase a little bit behind. But it was great fun to have the spectators there. Even though I was suffering like a pig, the crowd was really great. Uttrup Ludwig explained the move that brought his group back to Chapman, Reusser, and Niewiadoma. Brody was in front, but our group had Emma Norsgaard, so I thought, "Oh, I don't want her back," so I attacked and tried to bridge to Brody. Chapman will also compete in the Amstel Gold Race next Sunday with Uttrup Ludwig.