Ladies Tour of Norway: Vos wins stage 2

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Marianne Vos (WaowDeals) continues to dominate the Ladies Tour of Norway, winning stage 2, winning stage 2 in an uphill sprint. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) was led out well by her team, but was in the wind too early. Vos went around the Pole with 150 metres to go to win, and on the last metres Emilia Fahlin (Wiggle High5) came from behind to take second place, leaving Niewiadoma in third.

Vos now holds an 18-second overall lead over Fahlin ahead of Sunday's final stage.

Starting in Fredrikstad, stage 2 covered 127.7 kilometres to Sarpsborg. The sole mountain sprint came at Vikanetoppen after 21.5km, the first of two intermediate in Karlshus some 30km later. Entering Sarpsborg with 32.6km left to race, the finish line was crossed for the first time with 26.8km and four laps à 6.7 kilometres remaining. The circuit was a continuous up and down with several 90-degree turns, and the last kilometre to the finish was uphill. The second intermediate sprint was held at the finish line with three laps to go.

The wind was strong again, it rained through the whole stage, and the first hour of racing close to the sea also included a short gravel section. Katarzyna Niewiadoma won the mountain sprint to defend her polka-dot jersey, then Team Sunweb tried to split the peloton in the crosswinds. But as there were still 90km to go, things eventually settled down again.

Marianne Vos won the first intermediate sprint ahead of Emilia Fahlin and Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans), taking a three-second time bonus. The continuing rain put a damper on the peloton, and there were no attacks until the riders closed in on Sarpsborg. At the 40 kilometre mark, Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) got a small gap, but was soon caught again.

The peloton was led into the finishing circuit by Boels Dolmans. Team Sunweb went to the front and pushed the pace through a tight turn with 32 km to go, and from that point the peloton was in single file almost all the time to the finish. With four laps left to race, the peloton consisted of less than 50 riders, and the attacks started soon afterwards. Team Sunweb tried to force a selection, with Floortje Mackaij, Ruth Winder, and Liane Lippert all attacking on the first lap, but not getting away. Niewiadoma attacked on the finishing straight for the bonus sprint, but was caught and passed by Vos and Eugenia Bujak (BTC City Ljubljana).

A front group of six riders formed on the second lap. Bujak, Vos, Niewiadoma, Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5), Lucinda Brand, and Coryn Rivera (both Team Sunweb) held a lead of twelve seconds, but a determined chase by Boels Dolmans made them sit up again. Now Majerus made a move and pulled around ten riders with her, but the gap was quickly closed. When the Luxembourgish champion eased off with 12km left to race, the Sunweb riders took turns attacking, and Brand eventually got a small gap with four kilometres to go.

Brand's solo was ended just inside the three-kilometre mark as Danielle Rowe (WaowDeals) brought her back. Canyon-SRAM went to the front with four riders to lead out Niewiadoma for the sprint and looked in control. Niewiadoma started her sprint about 400 metres from the line, and Chloe Hosking (Alé Cipollini) could not hold her wheel, forcing Vos to go around the Australian. Distinctive in her yellow leader's jersey, Vos waited for a long time in Niewiadoma's wheel before opening up with 150 metres to go and easily passing the Pole to win. Just like Friday, Fahlin had the highest speed at the finish, but Vos was too far ahead, so the Swedish champion had to content herself with another second place. Behind the podium, there were small time gaps in the peloton due to the hard uphill finish.

With her stage win, Vos extended her overall advantage to 18 seconds over Fahlin who moved up to second overall. The Dutchwoman also leads the points classification, but the green jersey will actually be worn on stage 3 by Gracie Elvin (Mitchelton-Scott) since all ahead of her either hold a classification jersey in their own right or are reigning national champions. Chiara Consonni (Valcar PBM) keeps the white jersey for the best U23 rider, Susanne Andersen (Hitec Products-Birk Sport) continues to be the best-placed Norwegian.

The Ladies Tour of Norway ends on Sunday with the longest stage of the race. Starting on the Svinesund bridge at the border between Norway and Sweden, the race winds through the two countries before finishing in Halden after 153.9 kilometres.

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