Lorena Wiebes tightened her hold on the Simac Ladies Tour with a third consecutive stage victory, sprinting to the win in Zeewolde after echelons blew the race apart on the windswept roads of Flevoland. The SD Worx-Protime rider outsprinted Megan Jastrab and Amalie Dideriksen from a lead group of 17 that had formed in the first hour of racing.
The stage stretched 160 kilometres around Zeewolde and looked on paper to suit the sprinters, but the expected crosswinds turned it into a selective day. The decisive move came after 40 kilometres on the exposed Ketelbrug, where the peloton fractured into several groups. Wiebes was alert and made the front split alongside teammate Femke Markus, giving her team control.
Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo was also present, while Visma | Lease a Bike had strength in numbers with Lieke Nooijen, Nienke Veenhoven and Margaux Vigie. Other big names caught in the front included Zoe Backstedt, Karlijn Swinkels, Lara Gillespie, Nicole Steigenga, Christina Schweinberger, Lily Williams, Marie Le Net, Cat Ferguson, Megan Jastrab and Amalie Dideriksen.
With so many strong riders represented, the group quickly gained time as the bunch behind lost organisation. Uno-X Mobility and Liv AlUla Jayco tried to chase, but the gap ballooned beyond four minutes with 30 kilometres to go and stretched to more than seven minutes at the finish. That margin effectively ended the overall ambitions of riders like Riejanne Markus, who had looked in contention after stage two but was caught out in the second group.
The leaders worked smoothly through the crosswinds and only began to look at one another inside the final 20 kilometres. Jastrab tested the waters with a brief acceleration but was quickly neutralised by the presence of both SD Worx-Protime and Visma | Lease a Bike. From there, the pace settled into a controlled build-up to the sprint. With two kilometres to go, Steigenga launched a bold move and Swinkels tried her luck soon after, but both were reeled in before the line.
Through the final bends, Backstedt opened her sprint early, forcing the favourites to respond. Wiebes jumped clear with Jastrab locked onto her wheel, the pair stretching the group on the finishing straight. Once again, though, Wiebes proved the fastest, powering clear in the final 100 metres to celebrate her third win in as many days. Dideriksen finished strongly to take third.
The result means Wiebes continues in the leader’s jersey, with Jastrab now in second overall at 20 seconds and Balsamo third at 24. With the main peloton more than seven minutes adrift, the Dutch sprinter has established a commanding advantage in the general classification as the race moves into stage four.
2025 Simac Ladies Tour Stage 3 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
