Lorena Wiebes wins stage 3a at Baloise Ladies Tour

By
Mathew Mitchell
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Lorena Wiebes and Team DSM made it three wins in three on a short, sharp stage 3a at the Baloise Ladies Tour, once again proving to be the fastest in the bunch sprint finish.

The first of two stages today covered just 82.8 kilometres on a flat parcours ahead of an individual time trial later this afternoon. A fast start with lots of attacks made it hard for a break to establish itself but after around 20 kilometres two riders finally moved clear, building a maximum advantage of around 45 seconds.

Team DSM took control behind and gradually reeled the two leaders in with just under 10 kilometres to race, from which point they set a tempo to deter further attacks and setting Wiebes up for another fast finish.

The sprint victory once again reaffirms her position at the top of the GC as well as the points classification ahead of stage 3b’s time trial later on.

After the stage, Lorena said: “The day started a bit more easy, we were with the whole team in the front. There were some attacks early on but nothing stayed away and we were able to take the intermediate sprint. Two riders then got away and Esmée, Lèa and Francesca started to chase and we kept the pace once it was back together.

“Esmèe did a great job leading us towards the last four kilometres and it was a harder lead-out because of the headwind but Liane and Pfeiffer did a great job to put me in the perfect position. Maybe I came a bit too early into the wind, but it was enough to win and finish the teamwork off again.”

Team DSM coach Bennie Lambreghts added: “I think we can be really proud of Team DSM’s performance here so far. Making a hat-trick in three days is really impressive and comes from perfect teamwork. I think the control of the ladies was great, with Barale, Curinier and Peperkamp chasing the break then still controlling until the final two kilometres before the others took over for the final lead-out for Lorena. Really good cooperation, commitment to the plan and a really high level of performance once again.”

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