Boels Ladies Tour: Dideriksen doubles up in Weert

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Amalie Dideriksen (Boels Dolmans) took her second consecutive stage win in the Boels Ladies Tour. After her victory in Thursday's stage to Gennep, she was again the fastest in Weert.

At the end of a flat stage that saw a long solo escape by Omer Shapira (Cylance), Dideriksen beat Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) and Lorena Wiebes (Parkhotel Valkenburg) to the line. Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) finished safely in the main peloton and continues to lead the race overall.

Covering 124.3 kilometres between Stramproy and Weert, in the north-western corner of Limburg close to the Belgian border, stage 3 was practically flat. In the finish town, an eight-kilometre circuit had to be raced three and a half times, with points and bonus sprints at each crossing of the finish line.

Israeli champion Omer Shapira attacked on her own only six kilometres into the race. There were several attempts by other riders to bridge up to the 23-year-old, but the peloton reeled those groups in again. The bunch came close to catching Shapira, whose advantage was down to 25 seconds with 90 km to go, but the sprinters' teams decided that it was better to let the lone rider sit out front than to have to deal with new attacks.

While the peloton settled down to a more leisurely pace, Shapira continued unabated and increased the gap again. Her advantage maxed out at 3:50 minutes with 32 km left to race and only five kilometres from the start of the local laps in Weert. Having started the stage 4:12 minutes down on orange jersey Annemiek van Vleuten, Shapira had almost raced herself into the virtual lead and was deservedly awarded the prize of most combative rider.

At the first passage of the finish line with 24 km – or three laps – to go, Shapira's lead had gone down to two minutes as the peloton was now racing in earnest. Amy Pieters (Boels Dolmans) and Lisa Brennauer (Wiggle High5) went on the chase and caught Shapira just before the bonus sprint with two laps to go. The Israeli could not keep up with these fresh legs and dropped back. The peloton did not want to let Pieters and Brennauer sit in front for too long, bringing them back just before the start of the final lap.

Pieters launched yet another attack, this time without any companions, but a concerted effort by Mitchelton-Scott brought her back just inside two kilometres to go. Lorena Wiebes started her sprint very early, just after the last turn with 400 metres to go, and Amalie Dideriksen came around the 19-year-old Dutchwoman as the finish line came in sight. Lucinda Brand launched a late attempt, but Dideriksen was able to hold her off to take a second stage win in as many days.

“We actually wanted to sprint for Amy today, but then she got in the breakaway on the local laps, twice, even, so we had to change plans. Amy had used a lot of energy, so she did not have the final kick for the sprint any more, and I was next in line. I am not used to winning much, so it is really nice to take another stage,” Dideriksen said after the finish.

Race leader Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely within the peloton and will continue to wear the orange leader's jersey on Saturday's decisive stage 4, 154.8km starting and finishing in Sittard-Geleen in the hilly southern parts of Limburg.

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