CANYON//SRAM Racing started Baloise Ladies Tour tonight with a bang when four of its riders finished in the top ten. Last rider on course and defending general classification winner, Lisa Klein, sped around the 3.8 kilometre circuit to win in a time of 5 minutes 11 seconds. Teammate Hannah Ludwig was third, Alice Barnes seventh and Kasia Niewiadoma finished in eighth place.
“It was a really technical prologue which suits me. I took the corners fast and on the first one I almost ran out of room. It was close and I was really happy to have my disc brakes!” said Lisa after the late night prologue.
“I paced myself well the first two minutes, I accelerated over this bridge we had, and then on the final long straight I was holding 54km/hour. I was on fire. I really wanted the win and I’m happy with my efforts.”
With four riders in the top ten in the opening prologue in Utrecht, The Netherlands, the tour now moves to Belgium and Lisa says the team is excited for the upcoming stages.
“It’s great to see my teammates performing well and it gives all of us a lot of confidence. We hope to continue the fire in the next stages and I aim to repeat the win in the ITT stage on Saturday,” added Lisa.
Baloise Ladies Tour can be followed on Twitter with#BaloiseLT21. The tour has daily live coverage on Sporza and the race website here.
Stage 1 – 9 July at 13:25CEST
Stage 2a – 10 July at 10:55CEST
Stage 2b – 10 July at 17:25CEST
Stage 3 – 11 July at 13:55CEST
Highlights on Eurosport from 8 – 13 July
Photo Credit: Sportfoto