A victory for Voss in Holland Ladies Tour
The Holland Ladies Tour was a close cycling tour can be. The pecking order of the final sprint of the final stage is where Marianna Vos was determined as the winner. Vos finished every stage, with the exception of stage two, in either first or second place, while her fellow Dutchwoman, Kirsten Wild, finished every stage except stage two in the top three. Both Vos and Wild both finished first twice during the course of the tour.
“Kirsten lost by three seconds today to Vos who swept the sprint bonus’ as well as the day’s stage,” said Cervelo director Jean Paul Van Poppel. “There was a breakaway of twelve riders that included Emilie Aubry. They had a maximum, one-minute gap, but were finally brought back with 30km to go by Nederland Bloeit.”
It was the second stage that kept the pair out of the race leadership for most of the tour. Ina Teutenberg, of HTC-Columbia, entered the stage in the leader’s jersey after winning stage one ahead of Vos and Wild.
"Looking further ahead, too, to the World Championships this September, this is a very encouraging result for Ina," said HTC-Columbia director Rene Wenzel.
In stage two, Martine Bras won the leader’s jersey after a three-woman escape. She finished the race half a minute ahead of the bunch, pushing Teutenberg into fourth. This was followed by three consecutive days of Vos and Wild in a one-two finish, but never gaining enough time to take the leader’s jersey from Bras. Wild won stages four and five, and finally took the leader’s jersey with a third-place finish in stage six, only to lose it the next day to Vos.
“The team worked really well today and throughout the race,” said Jean Paul Van Poppel. “Kirsten did win the points classification; we won the team classification, two stages and finished with three riders in the top 10. So not a bad race, but unfortunately we missed the win.”
Despite a 14-rider bunch finish in the seventh and final stage, Vos collected time bonuses throughout the stage and was the first over the finish line, gaining her enough time to take the overall win three seconds ahead of Wild. The jersey-defender was well setup by the Cervelo Test Team for a sprint against Vos at the finish line, which would have won her both the stage and the general classification victory, but she wasn’t quick enough. Teutenberg’s HTC-Columbia teammate Eleonora Van Dijk, the stage six winner, finished in third place, 52 seconds behind Vos.
Tags: