Zoe Bäckstedt has won the Baloise Ladies Tour for the second year running, defending her title in Mechelen as Nienke Veenhoven claimed a hat-trick of stage wins on the race’s flat closing day.
Stage 4 looped six times around Mechelen over 111.4km, taking in five passages of the cobbled Keizerstraat on an almost entirely flat finale. An early breakaway of six riders built a lead of more than two minutes before Visma-Lease a Bike, Fenix-Premier Tech and Canyon SRAM combined to keep the gap on a leash of around a minute and a half through the middle of the stage. Emmy Pordon was the first to lose contact with the race, forced out by a flat tyre, while the rest of the move was reeled in gradually as the laps ticked down, the gap down to a minute with two to go.
How the sprint developed
Aileen Schweikart kept the breakaway’s hopes alive longest, attacking clear with 17km still to race as the sprinters’ trains organised behind, but she too was caught with 2km left. SD Worx-Protime forced their way to the front under the red kite, setting up a frantic, technical run to the line on the Keizerstraat. Veenhoven timed her effort perfectly, coming round Lotte Kopecky to take the win by half a wheel, with Charlotte Kool second and Maike van der Duin completing the podium in third. Kopecky, despite briefly holding the advantage in the sprint, ultimately finished fifth.
It was Veenhoven’s third stage win of the week, adding Mechelen to her victories in Knokke-Heist and Maaseik, and she was full of praise afterwards for the team that had delivered her into position on all three occasions.
Bäckstedt defends her title
Bäckstedt’s day was far less eventful, and that was exactly the point. Her 23-second overall lead was never seriously threatened, and she rolled safely through the finish to confirm the overall win. It is her second Baloise Ladies Tour title in as many years, making her only the fourth rider in the race’s history to win it twice, following Jolien D’Hoore, Lisa Klein and Marianne Vos.
Having already won the prologue and the stage 3a time trial earlier in the week, Bäckstedt’s victory was built on the same foundation as her 2025 title: dominance against the clock backed up by a team capable of protecting a lead through the sprint stages. Veenhoven’s bonus seconds from her three stage wins lifted her to second overall, an outcome she admitted she had not expected, with Felicity Wilson-Haffenden completing the final podium in third.
Photo Credit: GettyBaloise Ladies Tour 2026 stage 4 result
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Baloise Ladies Tour 2026 GC result
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Main photo credit: Cor Vos
