Under conditions that brought wind from every direction and decimated the peloton, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) scored her second victory by taking stage 3 of the Simac Ladies Tour ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) who placed second, and teammate Lotte Kopecky who nipped Charlotte Kool for third.
The race started full-gas with SD Worx-Protime at the front and echelons forming early on, resulting in a lot of splintering and regrouping in the peloton. With 70 km to go, 22 riders made a clean break from the main peloton and forged ahead. All seven SD Worx-Protime riders made it into this lead group and became its driving force.
Over the next 70-plus kilometers, this lead group of 22 pushed their gap to over a minute on what was left of the chasing peloton of around 25 riders.
With 10 km, Lidl-Trek put in some attacks in an attempt to get a rider up the road, but were quickly pulled back by SD Worx-Protime. The final kilometers to the finish were controlled by SD Worx-Protime, who once again executed the perfect leadout for their sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who easily took the stage.
Wiebes easily took her second victory with teammate Kopecky taking 3rd (photo: Simac Ladies Tour)
Rider Reactions
Lorena Wiebes: “We were in the leading group with seven out of 22,” said Wiebes. “So we had to finish it off as a team. It was a tough sprint. This time I maybe started a little too early instead of a little too late.
“You never know when they will come from behind with speed,” Wiebes further explained. “But the girls timed the lead-out very well. This time I saw the signs clearly. When I saw that it was still two hundred meters, I thought: I’ll just go.”
Charlotte Kool (4th): “It was a windy day today, with some echelons shaping the race. We made it into the first echelon with four of us, which was great. We got caught up in the sprint and couldn’t go for the win, which is disappointing. But it was a good day for the GC, and we have more chances to do better and go for a deserved win!”
Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM) still holds the leader’s yellow jersey by 3 seconds: “Today’s stage was brutal from kilometer zero with echelons and attacks. Thankfully, when the important break went, I was in position and made it into the front group.”
“The final kilometers were again really hard,” Backstedt explained. “From the start of the final lap, there were many attacks, and I tried my best to stay calm and hope that no rider could get too big of a gap. Coming into the sprint, I found myself not in the best position. I tried to do what I could to move myself up, but the pace was high, with SD Worx having all seven riders doing a lead-out.”
Visma|Lease a Bike did not have a good day. Their GC leader, Lieke Nooijen, missed the split and ended up in the chase group behind the lead group of 22 riders. By the end of the day she had tumbled 18 spots from from 2nd to 20th on GC. Only one of her teammates, Nienke Veenhoven, made it into the lead group.
“We were not alert as a team and that is very disappointing. Nienke (Veenhoven) was the only one in the first echelon group, so she did well.” – teammate Eva van Agt (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Nienke Veenhoven was the only Visma|Lease a Bike rider to make it into the lead group: “From the start it went straight full speed. Because everyone was still fresh, everything stayed together. Halfway through the race it was full speed again and then the leading group formed. From then on it was ride along until the finish. In the sprint I did what I could (16th place) but there wasn’t much more to it.”
Nienke Veenhoven was the only rider from Visma|Lease a Bike who made it into the lead group of 22 riders (photo: Visma|Lease a Bike)
How it happened
Stage 3 started under dry, but very windy conditions. After 70 km of hard riding in the wind, the lead peloton was reduced from the 70 to 22 riders, with all seven SD Worx-Protime riders making the selection, along with four riders from Lidl-Trek, and three riders from dsm-firmenich PostNL. The top 3 sprinters from yesterday, Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Balsamo, and Charlotte Kool, were also in this lead group of 22, as was GC leader Zoe Backstedt.
Behind on the road, a second group of 20-25 riders caught off guard in the windy conditions tried to bridge the gap but struggled, losing 20 seconds, then 35 seconds with 45 km to go. In this chase group was four Visma|Lease a Bike riders, trying to bridge the gap up to the first group which contained their lone teammate, Nienke Veenhoven, who was sitting 2nd on GC. Up in the front lead group, SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek continued to drive the pace, with other riders lending a hand.
The lead group of 22 riders never let up and went all the way to the finish (photo: UCI/WWT)
With 17 km remaining, the lead group increased their gap and the chase group looked like they were losing momentum. With 14 km to go, the lead group’s gap on their chasers was 44 seconds, with 11 km to go it had grown to 1:07”.
With 10 km remaining, Lidl-Trek began to attack with riders Elynor Backstedt, Ellen van Dijk, and Elisa Longo Borghini all having a go at it. Only Longo Borghini was able to force a gap, which was soon closed down by Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime). It was clear that Lidl-Trek hoped to shake things up, while SD Worx-Protime wanted a sprint finish for Lorena Wiebes.
SD Worx-Protime then went to the front with 7 km to go to control things, but now it was Franziska Koch’s turn (dsm-firmenich PostNL) to give it a go, attacking with Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) on her wheel. They might have had a chance, but Markus refused to pull through and Ellen Van Dijk of Lidl-Trek went to the front and brought them back.
With only 4 km remaining, SD Worx-Protime was on the front setting the pace for the sprint.
At the 1 km mark, Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) took over for her team before Lotte Kopecky came through at the 500 meter mark with Lorena Wiebes on her wheel, followed by Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek).
With about 200 meters remaining, Wiebes launched her sprint and Balsamo tried to come around but couldn’t and Wiebes took her second victory, with Balsamo having to settle for second. Kopecky nipped Charlotte Kool at the line for third place.
Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM) finished 14th and keeps the yellow leader’s jersey by 3 seconds.
Backstedt hung onto the leader’s jersey by 3 seconds ahead of Wiebes (photo: Simac Ladies Tour)
RESULTS
Stage 3: Zeewolde > Zeewolde(148.4km)
(61 riders finished)