Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won stage 2 of the Simac Ladies Tour on Wednesday by a bike throw ahead of her rivals Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), who was second, and Charlotte Kool (dsm-Firmenich PostNL) who took third.
The 154,8 km stage from Coevorden to Assen was for the most part uneventful, with the exception of a solo attack made with 50 km to go by Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal). The twenty-two-year old Pluimers went all-in with her effort and at one point had a gap of more than a minute and a half. It wasn’t until the final kilometer, 600 meters, that Pluimers was reeled in by the peloton led by SD Worx-Protime and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
Ilse Pluimers (AG-Soudal) soloed for 50 km only to be caught in the last kilometer (photo: Simac Ladies Tour)
In the lead up to the sprint, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) came to the front for her teammate Elisa Balsamo and took her into the final kilometer. While Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) did the same for teammate Wiebes. Other teams lead-out trains had difficulties in staying together and didn’t play much of a role in the final.
Team Canyon//SRAM was hit by illness and accidents that resulted in all of its team dropping out of the race, leaving leader Zoe Bäckstedt to fend for herself. The team made an announcement on social media: “We start stage 2 with Zoe backstedt and Alex Morrice only. Chloe Dygert broke her nose before stage 1 and will stop the tour for a better recovery, while Soraya Paladin and Maike van der Duin are, unfortunately, unwell.” (Morrice started stage 2 but didn’t finish)
Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) still holds the leader’s jersey despite losing her entire team to illness and injury (photo: Simac Ladies Tour)
Lorena Wiebes explained afterwards that she started her sprint later than she wanted. “(Chasing Pluimers) cost us part of our lead-out. I chose to stay in Lotte Kopecky’s wheel. It was a tricky finish to time. You could see the finish line from far away … I waited maybe just a tad too long, but when I saw Elisa Balsamo go on, I went on too. My teammates had worked hard all day. So I did feel the pressure to finish it off as well.”
Asked whether she would go for the GC, Wiebes said, “Whether I will also focus on the GC depends on how the rest of the week goes. Lotte Kopecky is closer in the standings as the defending champion. I can only win the GC if I win every sprint.”
Charlotte Kool and her dsm-Firmenich PostNL team had some difficulties in the sprint. “The final was real chaos, which is what we expected, but we got really boxed in late on. That’s part of sprinting but of course it’s disappointing as I had some real speed in the legs today.”
Ilse Pluimers said she felt really good and that’s why she attacked. “I felt really good today, and right after the cobbles, Stijn (sports director) told me I could attack, so I went. But no one wanted to join, so I thought ‘oh no’. Well, then you just have to keep going. For a moment, with five kilometers to go, I thought ‘I’ve got it’, but I could only think ‘what the heck am I doing’. It’s a shame to get caught right at the end. Now I think I might regret this tomorrow, since it’s going to be a windy day, so I’m curious to see what happens.”
RESULTS: Stage 2: Coevorden > Assen (154.8km)
Only 74 riders remain in the race out of 81 starters, making it one of the smallest pelotons for a WorldTour event. For UCI points to be awarded for a WorldTour race, a minimum of 90 riders is usually required.