Demi Vollering of the Netherlands finished runner-up in the grueling 146-kilometre race on Wednesday, while Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy placed third in the Belgian cycling classic, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
"This victory means a lot to me; I have experienced a lot of failures and a lot of second- and third-place finishes, but I never stopped believing that, as a team, we can win another race," Niewiadoma, who rides for the Canyon-SRAM team, said after her first individual road victory since June 2019.
"I really hope that this race will inspire a lot of people to just keep believing, keep pursuing their dreams, because the reward is always there waiting for us,” Niewiadoma added, as cited by the cyclingnews.com website.
In late March, Niewiadoma finished runner-up in the women’s Tour of Flanders race in Belgium.
Last year, the 29-year-old Polish rider finished third overall in the women’s Tour de France, repeating her success from 2022 and securing the Queen of the Mountains jersey as the race's best climber.
In October last year, Niewiadoma clinched the title of UCI Gravel World Champion after winning the gravel cycling world championships held in Veneto, Italy by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the global governing body for cycling.
Gravel cycling combines standard road cycling on paved roads with all-terrain mountain biking.
In 2021, the Pole took the bronze in the women’s elite road race at the world championships in Leuven, Belgium.
In 2019, Niewiadoma won the one-day Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11.
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Source: IAR, PAP, cyclingnews.com