Top three unchanged in Holland Ladies Tour
The 97km fourth stage of the Holland Ladies Tour finished much like the third, with Giorgia Bronzini finishing third, unable to get a leg up on Kirsten Wild and Marianne Vos in a fast sprint finish. But this time, Wild beat Vos in the sprint, while Vos won the third stage ahead of the Cervélo TestTeam rider. Martine Bras has retained the overall lead she gained in the second stage.
The 107.6km third stage, complete with cobblestones typical of the region, saw a number of breakaways being contained by Cervelo’s sprinters and a group of four riders detaching from the peloton in the twisting finale of the race. Vos won the stage, finishing three seconds ahead.
The seven-day Tour kicked off on Tuesday with 112.2km stage one from Nuenen to Gerwen. HTC-Columbia’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won the stage in a field sprint ahead of the currently-leading sprinters Vos and Wild in second and third respectively. It was Teutenberg’s 22nd victory this season, and she won a stage and the third-place overall in the 2009 Holland Ladies Tour.
"Ina was a little uncertain of her condition because she hasn't raced for a while, but she proved today she's in great form," said HTC-Columbia director Rene Wenzel. "Once it became clear it was going to be a bunch sprint, we worked hard for Ina to make sure she had her chance. It was a very tricky, technical stage, with a very technical finish that strung the riders out and the sprint was very close, but Ina got it."
The 107km second stage, on Wednesday, set the overall leadership into the same form in now stands in, due to a three-rider escape finishing 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. Teutenberg fell to fourth place overall behind the three escapees, led by the Dutchwoman Bras who still wears the leader’s jersey. Italian rider Valentina Bastianelli finished second and Janneke Ensing finished third, to set the top three as it still now stands. Bastianelli wears the best-young-rider’s jersey.
American cyclist Shelley Olds finished at the head of the bunch in the second stage. Vos and Wild returned to the head of the race the next day, with Vos winning stage three and Wild winning stage four, Bronzini in third place behind the pair both times. The trio crossed the finish line in a sprint both times, without enough of a lead to shake the top three, as continue to hold a stranglehold on the proverbial podium at this point in the race.
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