Mitchelton Scott's Annemiek van Vleuten dealt the first blow of the Spring Classics campaign at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday, but despite its seriousness, rival team Boels Dolmans, the road racing world champion refused to be intimidated.

In her first race since winning the world title last September in Yorkshire, England, with a 100-km solo ride, van Breuten kicked off her rivals with a furious acceleration in Mühl van Geraalsbergen and rode solo to the finish in Ninove.

"No wonder she did that. She was at the level you would expect from Anne-Mike and a little bit above the rest," said Boels-Dolmans team manager Danny Stam.

Nevertheless, Van Vleuten herself noted a tendency toward slow starts early in the season and seemed surprised by the performance, if not the victory itself.

"I don't know about that," Stamm countered. 'Last year she won the Strade Bianche. But if you race really hard, you can always tell that she is one of the best riders, and she showed that again this time." Stamm countered.

Van Vleuten accumulated an eye-popping amount of training kilometers over the winter, including a training camp in Colombia and training with Mitchelton Scott's men's team. Her goal was to start the season strong and to target the spring classics like never before.

Her win on Saturday was a huge statement of intent, but Stamm refused to admit that she was in shape for the entire spring.

"One more race. I don't know if she will be overwhelmingly strong. But in a couple of weeks we'll know what's going on.

"It was a great win, but Chantal Black won this race last year and the rest of the season wasn't much better. Winning the Omloop doesn't mean the rest of the season will be good," Stamm said. It's possible, but I don't know yet," Stamm said.

But van Vleuten in this form gives Boels Dolmans a headache. It must be pointed out that Mitchelton Scott had a number of people in the main selection for Omloop, but Van Vleuten is the strongest individual and Boels Dolmans will regain its position as the group with the widest range of options.

"I'm not going to make plans just for Anne-Mike because she won Het Nieuwsblad," Stamm said.

"It's the first race and a lot remains to be done. We can't say we're going to stop cycling because van Vleuten won the first race. What should we do?

"She will get better. She's been good the last few seasons, and if she goes for the races she wants to win, she can do really well. But next week is another week. But next week is another week.

Next weekend is the Strade Bianche, which Stam can only hope for, and the return of Van Vleuten's biggest rival, Anna van der Breggen.

"She should have been here, but she is sick. It was a big mistake for us that she couldn't race here," Stamm said.

"Hopefully she'll be better soon and available for the next race. If she is fit again, she will have a full spring season with Strade Bianche and three races in the Ardennes Classics will be her main goal."

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With Amy Peters, Amalie Dideriksen, and Jolien Doll yet to return, there is plenty of room for optimism.

"I'm pretty happy with the team and their work," Stamm said of Saturday's race, in which Gyp van den Bos also finished in the top 10.

"We had four guys go into the break and a couple of guys step up from the second group. For me it's good for the future and for the next race."

"We just keep racing the way we want to race. He did not participate in Sunday's Omloop van het Haegeland. He said, "Let's not forget that Anna van der Breggen and Chantal Black have won in the past. I hope they too will return at a great level."

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