Chantal Beltman and Kristin Armstrong were the winners during the weekend's top-level women's racing in the Netherlands.
Beltman (Team High Road) won the fourth round of the UCI Women's World Cup - the Unive Ronde van Drenthe on Saturday - whilst Armstrong (Cervelo-LifeForce) got top honours in the Novilon Eurocup Ronde van Drenthe on Sunday.
Saturday's (April 12) Unive Ronde van Drenthe is a tough race dubbed the 'women's Paris-Roubaix' since it contains cobbled sectors between the conventional road sections. And just like the tactics employed in the men's Queen of the Classics, the race was punctuated with attacks and counter-attacks. However, it was Beltman who managed to make her attack count by launching free from break-away companions Sarah Duster (Cervelo Lifeforce) and Elodie Touffet (Gauss RDZ) to clinch victory.
Emma Silversides was Britain's top finisher in the Novilon Eurocup van Drenthe, coming 58th.
In Olympic year it's hard to predict an overall winner in the 2008 World Cup. Most of the top riders - such as Britain's Nicole Cooke - have Beijing in their sights rather than the UCI's season-long competition.
Currently, Dutch woman Suzanne De Goede leads the World Cup standings after four rounds - with seven rounds still to go. Given the closeness of the points, any of the riders in the current top ten standings (see below) could pull a couple of wins out of the bag to secure the series. This includes Britain's Emma Pooley, currently sat in fifth position thanks to her win in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda - although the diminutive climbing specialist struggled on the cobbles over the weekend and did not finish either event.
Last year's World Cup series winner Marianne Vos currently lies in fourth spot. Nicole Cooke, second last year overall, is currently in 41st place.
The next round of the UCI Women's World Cup is La Fleche Wallonne Feminine in Belgium on Wednesday, April 23.
WOMEN'S WORLD CUP: STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4
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