The Women’s Tour passed the half-way point on Wednesday as the race hosted its first ever time trial on stage three.
Jess Allen kicked-off the stage as the first rider down the start ramp, with teammate Teniel Campbell setting the early fastest time, earning a brief trip to the hot-seat. Janneke Ensing then set the quickest time at the intermediate split as she powered around the course in a time of 25’26” to go provisional fastest.
Spaniard Ane Santesteban made it three Team BikeExchange riders in the provisional top-10 as she crossed the line with Sarah Roy still to take to the course. Ensing was shuffled down to 14th by the time Roy finished her effort, with the Australian slotting into 11th as the wait for the final riders to finish began.
In the end Demi Vollering proved to be the fastest in Atherstone, with Roy finishing the day in 16th place as attentions now turn to the final three road stages.
Sarah Roy:
“It was a challenging course today. The first 4km was a three-step climb, and the next 9km was undulating on very narrow country roads with moist edges. Not far from the finish there was a steep descent, which gave some recovery, but the final 1-2km was slightly uphill with a headwind.
I found it particularly tough out there today. I suffered a lot in the cold yesterday being under-dressed for the conditions. I did everything possible to recover and be well prepared for a good ride today. I had a lot of team support, I had a great sleep, a great warm -p and nutrition plan as well as a great pacing strategy, and all of my equipment was awesome.
Unfortunately, my best effort today fell particularly short of the performance we predicted. I’m really disappointed, because I’ve been looking forward to this stage for a long time, and the team had faith in me. It’s a really hard performance to swallow. I hope I can bring my legs back to life in the next days to give something to the team that they deserve.”
2021 Women’s Tour Stage 3 – Results:
1. Demi Vollering 23:18
2. Joscelin Lowden +1:04
3. Leah Kirchmann +1:05
16. Sarah Roy (Team BikeExchange) +1:49
Photo Courtesy of Getty Sport.