Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands rode away on her own to take victory in the 2017 Amstel Gold women's race, finishing well ahead of the UK's Lizzie Deignan in a Boels-Dolmans one-two.
Back on the women's calendar after a 14-year absence, the route packed in 17 climbs over its 121 kilometres, including four ascents of the Cauberg - one more than the men would take on later on Sunday.
The decisive move came in the final 10 kilometres after Van der Breggen, fellow Dutchwoman Annamiek van Vleuten and American Tour of Flanders winner Coryn Rivera bridged over to leading trio Deignan, Elisa Longo-Borghini and Katarzyna Niewiadoma.
Van der Breggen jumped clear with 7km to go and with Deignan not contributing to the chase the other four riders were unable to work together effectively enough to close the gap down. The 26-year-old had opened enough of a lead to make the final ascent of the Cauberg, coming just 1.1km from the line, little more than a formality.
Amstel Gold was making its return to the Women's WorldTour for the first time since 2003, marking the sixth round of an expanded calendar and coming a fortnight after Rivera's win on the cobbles of Flanders.
Next up will be the Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday, the second of the triumvirate of Ardennes Classics that concludes with next weekend's Liege-Bastogne-Liege.