THE DANISH MOVISTAR TEAM STARTS THE RACE WITH A LONG ESCAPE AND HAS ARRESTS TO BEAT ALL HER RIVALS IN THE FINISH LINE – ONLY SURPASSED BY UNEKEN (SDW) – AND STAY ONLY 12 ″ FROM THE VICTORY, 3RD IN THE FINAL GENERAL.
Emma Norsgaard once again demonstrated this Friday on the decisive day of the Healthy Aging Tour 2021 – with its 17 laps (115 km) at the hard level of the VAM-berg , in Wijster (Netherlands) – why it is the proper name of Movistar Team in this season start. With another display of enormous attitude and strength, the young Danish (21 years old) finished 2nd, behind Lonneke Uneken (SDW), and was only 12 ″ away from taking the last yellow jersey , which was retained by Ellen van Dijk (TFS).
Norsgaard was almost leaving in a group of five with Henderson (TJV), D’hoore (SDW), Hanson (TFS) and the finally victorious Uneken, a group that came to have almost two minutes of margin and that was neutralized to about 25 km from the finish , when the group, completely blown away in the rain and wind and with barely thirty cyclists surviving in the race, exploded and left only the best ones ahead.
Uneken took advantage of the numerical superiority of SD Worx to go for the stage and put in check a general that Van Dijk narrowly preserved. Norsgaard, helped to the end by a great Alicia González (12th), still had the legs to outrun the rest and be 2nd in the sprint , just a dozen seconds away from taking her first overall with a Movistar Team that she found in her one of its references of present and future.
STATEMENTS / Emma Norsgaard:
“What a day! Without a doubt, the hardest stage of the three. Maybe getting into the initial break from so far was not the smartest thing in the world (laughs), but all I wanted today was to try to get as far as possible in the general classification and leave everything on the road. It was a bit sad when we saw the leader’s group come in after such a long break, but all I could do was keep pushing until the end. Very happy with today’s result and with the whole week. I really feel very comfortable with what we are building in this team and how we are behaving. All the work that we have been doing is bearing fruit and it makes me very happy to be part of this. I am really looking forward to the next classics and to keep looking for good results ”.
Cover image (c): Anton Vos / Photo Gomez Sport