Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) grabbed her first pro victory on Tuesday by beating all the favorites in the opening 10.1 km time trial of the Simac Ladies Tour. Lieke Nooijen (Visma|Lease a Bike) also turned in a great ride and took second place, at seven seconds, while time trial specialist Ellen van Dijk (Lidl -Trek) finished third, just 16/100 of a second behind Nooijen.
The time trial specialists Chloé Dygert, Ellen van Dijk, and Riejanne Markus didn’t perform as well as expected, with Van Dijk being the only one to podium (3rd), and Dygert and Markus placing 10th and 7th. Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes, were also expected to be contenders but also finished off the podium, 4th and 20th.
Lieke Nooijen, Zoe Bäckstedt, Ellen van Dijk (photo: Simac Ladies Tour)
Rider Reactions
The twenty-year-old Bäckstedt said she felt the course suited her well, but wasn’t expecting to take the victory. “It was a really interesting course … I took the first half slightly conservative to keep something for the power stretch of the course. I feel like it was a course that suited me quite nicely, with tight corners and power sections where you had to push on the pedals. When I got to the turnaround point, I wasn’t feeling amazing, but I could come in quite quickly and was surprised to see that I had the fastest time.”
Bäckstedt’s season hasn’t been the best until now. After Ride London in May, she was sidelined with illness. “I was sick and took over a month off the bike to recover. Being here is the end of the road season and is also part of building my form before the cyclo-cross season. I also think many riders here are quite tired from the season, and I feel like I’m fresh and just getting started.
Does Bäckstedt hope to hold the leader’s jersey? “For the next stages, I have no expectations. I’m going to go and race my bike and have fun, and we’ll see what happens.”
Runner-up Nooijen was very pleased with her performance and second place. “A time trial on the first day is always a bit exciting, but I am super happy with how it went. Seven seconds is of course a big gap at a distance of ten kilometers. The legs have spoken and Zoe is the deserved winner. I gave everything and am happy with the second place.”
What are Nooijen’s expectations now that she sits in 2nd place on the GC? “Tomorrow is the start of the stage in my hometown Coevorden. I am really looking forward to that. These are long stages and I expect the wind to definitely play a role. We are here with three good classification riders, so we will see how it goes.”
Stage 2
Tomorrow’s stage 2 (154.8 km) is relatively flat with one short col, the Col du Vam (.5 km/4.4.%), coming at the 40 km mark. It’s expected to end in a sprint, as are most of the stages, but the weather may play a role as the remnants of hurricane Kirk hit Europe. Wind gusts up to 45 kph are predicted from the south for Wednesday and Thursday, which could make the stage challenging.
RESULTS: Stage 1: (ITT 10.1 km)
