After an opening phase marked by repeated regrouping and probing attacks, the race only truly began to fracture in the second half. Pieterse and Amandine Fouquenet had gradually established themselves as the central figures, responding to each other’s moves as the elastic stretched and snapped across successive laps.
Multiple riders attempted to impose themselves at the front earlier on, including Sara Casasola, who briefly dictated the pace, and Blanka Vas, but the fast, drying circuit repeatedly pulled the race back together. Crashes and small errors thinned the field without delivering a decisive split.
That finally changed midway through the race when Pieterse increased the pressure lap after lap on the same steep climb. Fouquenet matched her efforts with composure, reading the danger and refusing to crack, and the pair eventually carved out a narrow advantage that briefly looked decisive.
Once again, however, Hoogerheide resisted a simple outcome. A late regrouping saw Kristyna Zemanova, Katarina Chladonova and Shirin van Anrooij bridge across, turning the race into a five rider showdown heading into the final lap.
Pieterse struck first. Accelerating sharply, she opened a small but decisive gap of around ten metres. Zemanova responded bravely, digging deep and refusing to concede, but the Dutch rider maintained her advantage through the final technical sections and onto the run in to the finish.
Behind them, Fouquenet slipped out of contention for the win, unable to respond to the final acceleration, while the fight for the remaining podium places settled in her absence.