After the victory in stage one of Jolien d'Hoore, the Boels Dolmans rider automatically took the overall lead, but only by a couple of seconds from last year's winner, Coryn Rivera. Marianne Vos, the most decorated female cyclist in history, and also a previous winner of the Women's Tour was not far behind d'Hoore either.
The riders setting off for Stage 2 of the Women's Tour
Racing around the 2.5-km circuit was fast and furious, with no
chance for any lasting breakaway to form, despite a gallant effort by Elena
Cecchini (Canyon//SRAM Racing). Various teams contributed towards driving the
high pace, notably Trek-Segafredo, Team Sunweb, Alé Cipollini, Team VIRTU
Cycling, Canyon//SRAM Racing, and CCC-Liv).
 |
| Circuit map of Stage 2 of the Women's Tour |
Eventually, with three laps to go, Ellen van Dijk led a
well-drilled Trek-Segafredo train, to set up Lizzie Deignan for the sprint to
the finish line. In the melée of various contenders hanging on, Marianne Vos
managed to power past the train and take the win from Deignan and Sarah Roy
(Mitchelton-SCOTT).
The peloton racing around the circuit at approximately 45km/hour
Speaking to 2wheel chick after the race a delighted Henk Vos said of his daughter’s fifth stage win at the Women’s Tour, “She [Marianne] had a problem on the road and had to change her bike when she had a flat tyre, and then to win is marvellous. We follow Marianne everywhere. I can’t find enough words to say how much we are so proud. It’s unbelievable.”
 |
| Marianne Vos wins Stage 2 of the OVO Energy Women's Tour ahead of Lizzie Deignan |
"Our strategy was to stay in front as much as possibl because if you’re in the back you are doing intervals all the time so it’s better to be in front and in the race and keep that focus, but Ashleigh [Moolman-Pasio] did a great job to stay in front. I mean it’s not easy to stay in front. She had a good race and she felt comfortable, and she was there also to go with the attacks and stay in control.
"For myself, I was trying to save a little more, and the
other riders were kind of delivering me to the front, so it is really good when
your team mates are there in front. It really motivates you to stay there as
well.
"If the bunch is doing 50 km per hour and dropping to 45 and
going to 55 again there’s no option to stay away. Cecchini did a great job to
try, but she’s a really good rider, and it’s so hard to stay away for a couple
of laps, especially during the final when the pace was so high. On such a
circuit you really need a strong breakaway with a couple of riders that can
keep going.
 |
| Marianne Vos at the post-stage press conference |
"If it had rained this [race] would have been totally
different. It was quite safe in the bunch I have to say. It’s a very
experienced bunch, people were really good at bike handling, it’s not a really
big bunch. Everybody was fighting for each centimetre, it was safe but if it’s
wet….once you get into the grass then you have a big problem. Today [when on
the grass] it was possible to save it and get back on the road again. That
happened on nearly every corner. You didn’t see all the action, but we did!
"I had a flat tyre. I didn’t worry at all. I was like, “it
happens”. Let’s change bike and see if I can get in. It happened with 11 laps
to go so there was sort of plenty of time. But yeah, I’ve had less good places
to have a flat tyre this year. [For example, at Paterberg, in the Tour of
Flanders].
"I was quite surprised at the gap I had when I won. I saw a
gap opening at 200m to go. I came from the back so I thought “okay if I don’t
go now I will be late, so I will have to go and see if I can open up a gap”,
and then I did, but I felt okay now the legs are going to burn so I just kept
going and I saw no wheels coming, so that was of course a great feeling.
"It’s always nice to have more riders in front, and Ashleigh
[Moolman-Pasio] is a great climber, so going to the next days it’s really
helpful. She’s a great climber and she can do crits as well, and time trials as
well. Having her in the team is very important – valuable – but not just
Ashleigh. I have to say Jeanne Korevaar did a really good job today and also
the other riders. So the team is going to be more important in the next days,
so we are going to try our best.
"Lizzie’s [Deignan’s] form is great. No doubt. I’ve seen her
in the first races coming back [after maternity leave], and of course she
hasn’t won yet, but I think she’s close to her top shape and definitely she was
really good in [Tour de] Yorkshire. She’s in great form, she’s always one to
watch for GC and the team is strong as well. They have a very strong team. We don’t
fear anyone, but Trek [-Segafredo] is one of the teams that you want to watch."
For Lizzie Deignan, who placed second in the race she was pleased with the result, considering that she had not been targeting a win in this stage. The Yorkshire-born rider said:
"On paper this is the least suited [stage] to our team. It was just about riding as a team and that’s what we did. Ellen [van Dijk] and Trixi [Worrack] did an amazing job. I really have to thank them for that."
"On paper this is the least suited [stage] to our team. It was just about riding as a team and that’s what we did. Ellen [van Dijk] and Trixi [Worrack] did an amazing job. I really have to thank them for that."
Related posts
No comments:
Post a Comment