In La Flèche Wallonne Femme, Pauliena Loijackers (Phoenix d'Esteuninck) finished in the top 10 in Wednesday's Mule de Uy.

Loijackers, along with Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ), escaped early and attacked again in the last 10 km. After these efforts, she entered Mulle de Uys in 22nd place, but was overtaken by one rider after another, finishing in 6th place.

"On the last climb, I went at my own pace, and I was surprised to finish in sixth place," she said. I know I'm in good shape, but I'm very happy with this result," Reutjakkers told Cycling News.

Before the strong finish, Reuijckers spent 28 km in the chase with Brown. She was never more than 45 seconds away from the peloton, but on the first climb of the Mûr de Huy, not being in the pack was an advantage in itself.

"I know she is a very strong rider and I was hoping that more riders would go with her. That way, I could "easily" get through the first climb of the Mûr de Huy in front," she explained.

Sixteen kilometers from the finish, Brown and Loijackers returned to the peloton. Then the Loijackers moved again at the top of the Côte d'Eref, this time alone in pursuit.

"I was expecting the race to open up more and for the leading racers to attack," the 30-year-old said.

She passed Sara Martin (Movistar Team) and Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Surdal) with 10km to go, and soon others responded: Elise Chaby (Canyon-SRAM) jumped over to Roy Jackers, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Mareille Meijering (Movistar Team), and Lotte Kopecky (SD Walks-Protime) also tried to bridge to the front. Longo Borghini and eventually Kopecky passed, but the peloton followed them and closed the gap.

After a good showing in the mid-week Flèche Wallonne, Louis Jackers is looking forward to the finale of the classic season, Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"It's the race that suits me best in the Classics. I expect it to be a hard race. My goal is always to win as a team, but at this rate I'm sure I can aim for the podium," said Louis-Jackers, who promised to aim high on Sunday.

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