Lorena Wiebes second on final stage as Labous seals second overall

Following back-to-back stage wins, Lorena Wiebes and Team DSM raced to second on the sixth and final stage of the Womenโ€™s Tour while Juliette Labous sealed second place overall.

The final stage was the longest of the race at 155.3 kilometres. At the first sprint of the day Wiebes took top spot to take the bonus seconds away from those trying to close the gap to Labous in second on GC. Soon after, three riders went clear with just over 100 kilometres to race โ€“ which eventually became five with 77 to go, building a lead of three minutes 30 seconds.

The race was momentarily stopped due to a level crossing with 50 kilometres to go but order was resumed after as the gap was restored and the race continued. From here the gap was gradually reduced and inside 15 to go all was back together setting up an attacking finale and then a bunch sprint with nothing going clear.

The team once again set about preparing the sprint for Wiebes and in the drag race to the line Wiebes came through for second rounding out a successful week for the team. Two stage wins, second overall, three riders in the top 10 and the blue point classification jersey to take home.

 

After the stage Wiebes said: โ€œToday was a long day out. There was a group in front for a long time, but again Liane did a really good job with chasing behind. Then once it was back together it was a hard final with a lot of attacks. We did a good job with positioning for the last corners but came to the front a bit too early and ended up in the wheels of Valcar but did not have enough power left to win.

โ€œIโ€™m disappointed but we can look back on a good week of racing. And most importantly we kept Julietteโ€™s second place in GC today.โ€

Team DSM coach Albert Timmer added: โ€œIt was a hard day today and the plan was to defend Julietteโ€™s second place in the GC and then try to win the stage. It worked out with Juliette but then Lorena came up just short in the final sprint.

โ€œBut in general we can be really happy with the performance this week. Two stage wins, second in GC and the points jersey. We showed some real commitment towards our goals as a team!. So we can be happy and proud on this week in the UK.โ€

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Mathew Mitchell
Mathew Mitchellhttp://procyclinguk.com
My name is Mathew Mitchell, 30-something from Staffordshire, UK. Over the last few years, I've got more and more into cycling, from the first innocent Sportive events to Audaxes, Go-Races, British Cycling racing, Time Trials and now Cyclocross.

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