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Ludwig wins third stage Tour, Vos keeps yellow
After the great Danish Tour success with the men with Jonas Vingegaard, the Danish women have now also made their mark. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig won the third stage of the Tour de France. On the short but steep final climb she was the strongest in a leading group of ten women.
Marianne Vos started the 133 kilometer stage between Reims and Épernay in the yellow jersey after her victory yesterday. The 35-year-old veteran of Jumbo-Visma ran into problems for a while, but was able to join the leading group after a chase. She crossed the line in second behind Ludwig and retained the lead.
It is the first time that the Dutch riders have been beaten in the Tour. The opening stage in Paris was won by Lorena Wiebes and yesterday Vos hit a double.
Car from Tour organization hits bike Vollering during interview after finish
Sick Van Vleuten on the better hand: ‘Had to get through this’
Emotional Ludwig after stage victory: ‘I try not to cry’
Everyone grants Vos the yellow jersey: ‘Very nice all those positive reactions from the peloton’
Polka dot jersey from one Femke to another Femke: ‘Isn’t that cool?’
All four jerseys were on the shoulders of Dutch riders at the start, because in addition to Vos’ yellow, Wiebes wore the green, Femke Markus had the polka dot jersey and Maike van der Duin rode in the white jersey for the best youngster. Markus lost her jersey to Femke Gerritse, her teammate at Parkhotel Valkenburg. Gerritse was active in the hilly stage and tried to escape a number of times in vain.
With about 40 kilometers to go, Belarusian Amelia Amialiusik managed to make a big gap with the peloton. When she was caught on a hill with 16 kilometers to go, a leading group with some top riders arose. Vos was initially happy, but had to release shortly before the top.
Vollering literally falls away from the leading group
Seven riders remained, but that quickly became five, because Demi Vollering and Germany’s Diane Lippert crashed in a corner. Annemiek van Vleuten was therefore the only Dutch left in the leading group. Italy’s Silvia Persico (second in the standings) and Elisa Longo Borghini (fourth) were also in the race, as were Spain’s Mavi García and South African Ashleigh Moolman.
With 7 kilometers to go, the chasing group with Vos and Vollering managed to return, creating a leading group of eleven women. On the penultimate climb at 4 kilometers from the finish, Van Vleuten (who is recovering from the flu) and the American Kristen Faulkner were knocked off, but in the descent the former world champion Van Vleuten returned.
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In the last 500 meters the ten strong women battled for the victory. The Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma took on first. Vos and Moolman countered, but then saw Danish champion Ludwig come over and take the stage victory. Vollering finished eighth and Van Vleuten finished tenth.
Ludwig emotional after victory
Ludwig let her tears run wild after the finish. “Yesterday was a huge shit day”, the FDJ rider referred to the hard crash of her teammate Marta Cavalli. “But the team has worked hard today. And I just win a stage in the Tour in the Danish championship jersey. It doesn’t get any better.”
Tomorrow, three of the four jerseys will again be worn by Dutch riders. Vos leads in the general classification and the points classification. Wiebes will wear the green jersey as number two. Gerritse is allowed to start in the polka dot jersey for the first time. Van der Duin lost about five minutes and has to give the white jersey to the Belgian Julie De Wilde.
There are still five stages to go in the Tour de France Femmes, which will be organized for the first time since 2009. The profile of the stages will become increasingly difficult in the coming days, with the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles on Sunday as the absolute final piece.
