Simac Ladies Tour: Lonneke Uneken wins stage 3

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Lonneke Uneken (SD Worx) won stage 3 of the Simac Ladies Tour from a reduced group of six after a huge crash held up the rest of the peloton with just over 5km to the finish line in Weert.

Uneken, 21, and SD Worx teammates Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Amy Pieters, and Demi Vollering, as well as Susanne Andersen and Pffeifer Georgi of Team DSM, were the only riders left at the front of the race. 

As the small group came to the line, Uneken outsprinted Andersen with Georgi claiming third. 

Despite being held up by the crash, Marlen Reusser of Ale BTC Ljubljana retained the yellow jersey after the stage. Speaking after crossing the line Reusser admitted that she was positioned too far back at the time of the crash. 

How it unfolded

The peloton were determined to keep the race together after multiple failed attempts at bringing about a bunch sprint in recent races. The pace was high from the start of the stage and with 40km covered there was still no sign of a breakaway. Femke Markus of Parkhotel Valkenburg attempted to escape the peloton however she was quickly shut down. 

With 67km to go there was a split in the bunch and a group of fifteen riders broke away soon getting an advantage of 20 seconds, however just 12km later the bunch was back together again. 

With 48km to go, Letizia Paternoster of Trek-Segafredo suffered a crash, which saw her subsequently abandon the race. The team have since said that the 22-year-old sprinter is being assessed in hospital. 

A few kilometres later, Quinty Ton (GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling) and Hanna Nilsson (Lotto Soudal) attacked and managed to force a small gap, however Christine Majerus (SD Worx) worked to close them down. Ton attacked again and managed to stay clear for a few kilometres. 

The intermediate sprint at 32km to go was taken by Silvia Persico (Valcar Travel & Service) ahead of Markus.

Daniek Hengeveld of GT Krush eventually managed to sneak off the front with 30km to go  but the peloton did not give the 18-year-old Dutch rider much leeway and kept the gap at under 30 seconds. 

Janneke Ensing of Team BikeExchange kicked off a series of attacks with just under 30km to go, putting in a strong attack which was countered by FDJ however SD Worx were on hand to close things down yet again. 

With just over 15km to go Hengeveld was caught by a charging bunch as the sprint teams took up the chase and ramped up the pace heading into the finish. With around 8km to go it was Jumbo-Visma who picked up the pace riding for Marianne Vos and they were soon joined by Movistar and Trek. 

Coming into the final 7km of the race the pace was searing as the sprint teams jostled for position coming into the finale. With the pace still high and the road narrow, a huge crash near the front took out most of the peloton with just over 5km to go. The crash affected most of the favourites for the sprint including Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), and Chloe Hosking (Trek-Segafredo) and left only Uneken, van den Broek-Blaak, Georgi, Andersen, and Pieters to contest the finish. 

With groups coming into the finish, a second crash involving Jesse Vandenbulcke (Lotto Soudal) occurred on the final corner before the line. 

General classification leader Marlen Reusser (Ale BTC Ljubljana) was also caught up in the crash, however the Swiss champion finished the race with no serious injury. By avoiding the crash, van den Broek-Blaak moved up one place on GC and now sits in second place just 10 seconds behind Reusser. Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) is now third at 12 seconds down. 

After stage 3 Alison Jackson (Liv Racing) retained her lead in the mountain classification, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) is the new leader of the points classification and Pfeiffer Georgi moves into lead of the youth classification.

On Saturday, the peloton face 148.9km on a selective course from Geleen to Sweikhuizen along nine laps of a circuit.