The second stage of the 2024 Simac Ladies Tour unfolded with a mostly flat 154.8km route from Coevorden to Assen, featuring the challenging VAM-berg climb and the cobbled stretch of Steenhopenweg. Despite these obstacles, it was clear early on that the day would likely favour the sprinters, as the peloton largely stayed together.
After an initial climb of the VAM-berg at 38km, where Jeanne Korevaar took the QOM points, the race continued at a controlled pace. The cobbles at Steenhopenweg, some 50km from the finish, caused no major splits in the group, and it wasn’t until 48.7km to go that the action heated up. Ilse Pluimers made a bold solo attack, quickly establishing a significant gap as the peloton hesitated, allowing her to gain over two minutes.
For a time, it looked like Pluimers might just pull off a remarkable solo win. However, as the race passed the 20km mark, SD Worx-Protime took control of the chase. With strong headwinds and the gap shrinking rapidly, Pluimers was finally caught just before the last kilometre.
As the race hit the final straight, it was Lotte Kopecky who led out Lorena Wiebes. Elisa Balsamo waited in Wiebes’ wheel and launched her sprint with 150 metres to go. Both sprinters threw their bikes for the line, but it was Wiebes who narrowly edged out Balsamo, claiming her victory in Assen. Charlotte Kool surged from behind to claim third.
Lorena Wiebes reflected on her victory after the race, admitting to a slight error in timing her sprint. “I was on Lotte’s wheel in the last kilometre. She timed the lead-out perfectly, but I waited just a little too long to go. That made it quite close in the end,” Wiebes told Wielerflits. Despite the nerve-wracking finish, she was pleased to have secured the win. “It’s always tricky when you see the finish line so far ahead, but I’m happy I pulled it off.”
Charlotte Kool, who finished third, spoke about the chaotic nature of the sprint. “It was hectic all day, but there was never enough wind or a long enough road to make things split. The final was real chaos, which is what we expected, but we got really boxed in late on,” Kool said after the stage. Reflecting on her podium finish, she added, “That’s part of sprinting, but of course it’s disappointing as I had some real speed in the legs today. Luckily there are many more days to come here where we can get higher on the podium.”
Zoe Bäckstedt, who retained the overall lead, shared her thoughts on the challenging nature of the stage, particularly dealing with the high speeds. “It was brutal, we had 40.7 [km/h] average. It was just full gas the whole time apart from one road of five kilometres in the middle,” she said in a message shared by her team on Twitter. Despite losing all her teammates to crashes or illness, Bäckstedt remained determined to defend the yellow jersey in the coming stages.
2024 Simac Ladies Tour Stage 2 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
