Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar) was one of the most aggressive riders at the mid-week Dwar do Hlaanderen, but a strong headwind prevented him from clearing the peloton on the decisive climb to Waregem. He ended up supporting team sprinter Arlenis Sierra and finished in the main group, but said the race "woke up my legs" for Sunday's defense at the Tour de Flanders. 'I'm feeling good. I just came down from the high altitude. Happy to be back in Flanders. I'm looking forward to Sunday. The legs are good. It will be a completely different race than today. Today was a good workout and I was able to wake up my legs at sea level.

Van Vleuten has not raced since finishing second behind Lotte Kopecky (SD Works) in the thrilling final of the Strade Bianche in Siena, Italy. She has been training in the highlands of Tenerife for the past few weeks. In Dwars door Hlaanderen, she attacked several times on the short, punchy climb, but could not clear it given the headwind. van Vleuten, who decided that a second consecutive win was not possible, turned his attention to sprinter Sierra, who played an important role in containing a threatening move on the run-in to Wallahem. She played a key role.

"It was a headwind on the climbs, and on two or three climbs I could have done something, but on two climbs it was a headwind, so I knew it would be hard to run like I did last year. The course is not super hard and ....... The course isn't super hard and ...... You have to run four or five hours in a really hard race before you can make a difference on the climbs," van Breuten said. "On the climbs I decided to try to attack, and worst case scenario, I had trained well for today. And after the last climb I ran for Supergirl Arlenis Sierra. It was a really good opportunity to run for my team and I really enjoyed it. It was a really good day." Van Vleuten expressed disappointment that the parcours was not more difficult, but the racers made the race more difficult and consequently provided an opportunity for the sprinters to excel.

"Instead of 120km, I'd like to see it be 160km, with more climbs and a parcours like in Flanders. Today is an opportunity for the sprinters, and in the end the riders make the race. Ultimately the racers make the race and the racers make the race harder.

Van Vleuten has her sights set on the Tour of Flanders, where the women will compete in a 158km race that starts and finishes in Oudenaarde. The Flanders Classic sets up a route with cobblestones in the early stages, followed by 11 steep climbs.

"I think of Ronde van Vlaanderen as the Koppenberg, so I am happy to race there for the first time.