Elke Gebhardt has won stage four of the Boels Ladies Tour in Holland today, taking her first win of the season and Team Argos-Shimano’s third stage win so far in this race. Elke was in the day’s breakaway with one other rider, having broken away early on in order to relieve the pressure of the chase behind and so saving energy for Kirsten Wild for the end of the race. The team left the chase to the other teams but they weren’t able to bring back Elke and her companion by the finish and Elke took the win in style showing that the team don’t just have to rely on a sprint finish to win races. “I can’t describe the feeling after winning today, I am so happy,” said Elke. “It was a long and hard day and I was in the break after kilometre six with a group, before Vera attacked and I joined her. We worked very well together and managed to stay away. “In the final she attacked a couple of times but she couldn’t drop me. I took the final corner first and gave it all to the finish line and she was never able to overtake me. “At the beginning of the season at the team presentation I said it was my goal to win an international race, to have accomplished that today is great. The whole season I have felt strong and since I have joined the team I have become a better rider and made a big jump in my performance. I will definitely go to sleep with a smile on my face tonight.” “This is another great victory after a monstrous break of Elke Gebhardt together with Vera Koedooder (Sengers),“ said coach Sjoerd Koster (NED). „The plan was that Willeke Knol (NED) and Elke would counter every attack at the beginning of the race. As soon as Koedooder attacked, Elke was on her wheel and they had a gap. Although they were both strong and working well together the bunch came back to just 10 seconds, but then gave up and Koedooder and Elke moved away again. In the finale Elke was the fastest and took the win. “I am really pleased and impressed by the performance of Elke, she was so strong and eager to take the win, that she did it in the end is terrific. It makes it extra special as she is always working for the team and that she had the chance to experience success on her own. Elke has developed really well this year and showed this with her second place at the German Championships and now the win today.”