The stage 2 summit finish on the Norefjell sorted the Tour of Scandinavia general classification as Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) won the stage and took the race lead. But unlike the 2022 edition, where winning on the Norefjell on the penultimate stage all but wrapped up the GC victory for Uttrup Ludwig, she will have to work hard this year in order to keep the yellow jersey on her shoulders.
Stage 3 from Kongsberg to Larvik ended in the uphill sprint of a reduced group but saw no large time gaps in the top of the general classification. Uttrup Ludwig finished third on the stage and is now 12 seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and 21 seconds ahead of Greta Marturano (Fenix-Deceuninck).
After a ferry transfer to Denmark, it will be the stage 4 individual time trial in Herning that will decide the GC. The most dangerous rival for the race leader is second-placed Van Vleuten, but there are other riders that will contend for the GC podium and may even threaten the yellow jersey.
Uttrup Ludwig is a decent time trialist and has won three Danish ITT titles earlier in her career, but a Van Vleuten in form is on a different level: The 40-year-old Dutchwoman is the reigning Olympic ITT champion and won the World ITT Championships twice during her illustrious career. She and Uttrup Ludwig have faced each other in time trials twelve times before, and each time Van Vleuten has achieved the better result.
The most recent ITT for both riders was the Pau ITT that finished the Tour de France Femmes. Neither Van Vleuten nor Uttrup Ludwig were in their best shape that day, but Van Vleuten still took about 2.5 seconds per kilometre on the Dane. Over the 16.5-kilometre course in Herning, this would amount to 41 seconds, easily enough to put Van Vleuten in the lead.
A group of 11 riders finished 31 seconds down on Uttrup Ludwig at the Norefjell. Five of them did not lose any time in Larvik and are now 49 seconds behind in GC: Amber Kraak (Team Jumbo-Visma), Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step), Olivia Baril (UAE Team ADQ), and Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM).
Baril and Kraak performed very well in the Pau ITT and will definitely threaten Marturano for the GC podium. Baril took 3.5 seconds per kilometre on Uttrup Ludwig in Pau, amounting to 58 seconds in Herning. Kraak still gained 2.8 seconds per kilometre, which would equal to 46 seconds in Herning.
Last but not least, there is Uttrup Ludwig’s teammate Grace Brown. The Australian is 1:29 minutes behind the GC leader after stage 3, having lost seven seconds in Larvik, but she is also one of the very best time trialists in the women’s peloton, evidenced by her Worlds silver medal earlier in the month and a fourth place in the Pau ITT in late July.
Brown gained five seconds per kilometre on Uttrup Ludwig in the Tour de France Femmes ITT, which would amount to 1:22 minutes over the 16.5-kilometre course in Herning. At the Worlds ITT in Stirling, Brown gained more than six seconds per kilometre, equalling 1:40 minutes in Herning.
With all this in mind, Uttrup Ludwig will have to put out one of the best ITT performances of her career to keep the overall lead. What plays in her favour is that she had only minor GC placings to ride for in Pau and was far off the top 10 in the Worlds while she will be racing in her home country on Saturday, wearing the yellow leader’s jersey. Both circumstances should give her extra motivation, as will the fact that she was second in the European U23 ITT championships in Herning in 2017, only four seconds behind her compatriot Pernille Mathiesen.
Looking at the white jersey, Eglantine Rayer (Team DSM-Firmenich), 11th overall at 56 seconds, has a four-second lead on Alena Ivanchenko (UAE Team ADQ) after stage 2. However, Ivanchenko won the juniors’ European and World ITT championships in 2021 and has to be considered the favourite to lead the U23 classification after stage 4.
