Wiebes once again beats Balsamo in third stage of Simac Ladies Tour after brilliant echelon spectacle

After Wiebes won the bunch sprint on Wednesday in Assen, the Simac Ladies Tour continued on Thursday with a stage in Flevoland, a province in the Netherlands. Both the start and finish were in Zeewolde, with a course of 148.8 kilometers mapped out entirely on flat roads. However, the roads in Flevoland are mainly open, making the race vulnerable to crosswinds.

And that’s exactly what happened. After twenty kilometers, the tempo was so high that the peloton sped over the Flevoland roads at a blistering pace. Early on, we saw Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) struggling at the back of the pack due to the open sections. Shortly after, the group split in the wind, though the dropped group managed to return fairly quickly.

It was ultimately at 75 kilometers from the finish that the echelon action truly began. The peloton split into several groups, with an initial group of 22 riders forming. This group included the entire SD Worx-Protime team, along with riders like Kool, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ellen van Dijk, Balsamo and the race leader, Zoë Backstedt. The group of 22 held a lead of about twenty seconds over a chasing group, while a third group followed over a minute behind.

Who missed the break? Mainly Visma | Lease a Bike, who only had Nienke Veenhoven at the front. There was no sign of Riejanne Markus, Anna Henderson or Lieke Nooijen. The Dutch team logically led the chase in the second group, working with Fenix-Deuceninck riders. The Belgian team had no riders in the front group. Additionally, sprinter Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X) and Dutch rider Talitha de Jong (Lotto Dstny) were not in the lead group.

The gap to the 22 leaders hovered around thirty seconds for a long time. The third and even fourth groups were sitting on a gap so big that they were no longer in contention for the victory. The final part of the stage featured a local lap in and around Zeewolde. After crossing the finish line, a 20-kilometer local circuit awaited, where the wind played less of a factor than earlier in the day. This was good news for the chasers, who were still thirty seconds behind at the finish line.

The lead group maintained good cooperation under the guidance of SD Worx, but Lidl-Trek tried to put the Dutch team under pressure. Longo Borghini launched an attack in the wind, but it was unsuccessful. The gap to the chasing group had now grown to nearly a minute and a half. The stage victory would be decided among the 22 riders. Wiebes had her entire team at her disposal, while Balsamo also had three teammates with her, including Van Dijk. Kool also had three teammates remaining.

Franziska Koch (dsm-firmenich PostNL) made a late move with seven kilometers to go, but Van Dijk closed the gap to the German rider. This led to a 22-rider sprint for the stage win. SD Worx timed their lead-out well, positioning Wiebes perfectly. Kopecky set up her sprinter nicely, while Balsamo once again took Wiebes' wheel. Kool, just like the day before, had to come from far back and finished in fourth place. Wiebes was faster than her Italian sprinting counterpart, beating Balsamo by a wider margin this time. Kopecky took third place in the stage results, while Zoë Backstedt retained her leader's jersey.