Wiebes defends yellow jersey going into final stage
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Audrey Cordon-Ragot wins time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon-Ragot wins time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Amanda Spratt third in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Amanda Spratt in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Riejanne Markus second in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Riejanne Markus in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon-Ragot in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Karlijn Swinkels in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes in the stage 5 time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes leads the Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon-Ragot wins time trial, Lorena Wiebes keeps overall lead at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Anna Henderson in the time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Alison Jackson in the time trial at the Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon-Ragot wins time trial at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes in the overall leader's jersey at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes in the overall leader's jersey at Simac Ladies Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon-Ragot of Trek-Segafredo won stage 5 of the Simac Ladies Tour, a 17.8-kilometre time trial around Sittard. The French time trial champion stopped the clock at 25:15 minutes.
Overall leader Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) rode a strong time trial to finish fifth in 25:36 minutes, defending her yellow jersey by six seconds before Sunday’s final road stage.
“I am very happy about this victory. I had a plan for the time trial, but I did not expect to win it at all. It has been a tough first half of the season for me with COVID before I came back at the national championships,” said Cordon-Ragot.
“I had a plan and followed it. I had the watts I needed in every part of the course, it was really technical and I love that. I just stayed in my bubble and did what I had to do. It was a good preparation for the Worlds because that is also going to be technical, and I am happy to come home with a stage win."
How it unfolded
The 17.8km out and back course included almost 30 turns, making it very technical. Fortunately the weather stayed dry throughout the race.
Eva Buurman (Liv Racing Xstra) was the first starter, and her time of 26:59 minutes stood until Canyon-SRAM’s Lisa Klein finished in 26:21 minutes.
19-year-old Elise Uijen (Team DSM) left everything on the road in her first-ever elite time trial and beat Klein’s time by ten seconds. Uijen crashed after the finish but quickly got up again to take the hot seat.
The next rider to set a best time was Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) in 25:57 minutes, but Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) pulverised that time with 25:25 minutes. Julie De Wilde (Plantur-Pura) beat Spratt’s intermediate time by fractions of a second but then lost three seconds on the second half of the course.
Riejanne Markus (Team Jumbo-Visma) further improved on De Wilde’s intermediate time and went even faster towards the finish, stopping the clock at 25:18 minutes, seven seconds faster than Spratt.
The 2021 overall winner Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Team SD Worx) had hoped to go for the yellow jersey again but suffered a puncture and had to change bikes twice during her ride. She finished almost two minutes behind Cordon-Ragot and so is now out of the GC race.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) rode a good time trial in 25:51 minutes and moved up to fifth place in the GC standings.
Late starter Cordon-Ragot set a new best intermediate time of 13:19 minutes after 8.5 km, six seconds faster than Markus, while Karlijn Swinkels (Team Jumbo-Visma) lost 15 seconds to Cordon-Ragot on the first part of the course.
Wiebes did better and was only eight seconds behind the Frenchwoman halfway through. The final part of the course would prove to be decisive.
Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma) and Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) lost ground in the GC race with finishing times of 26:07 minutes and 26:10 minutes, respectively, almost a minute slower than Cordon-Ragot who finished in 25:15 minutes.
Swinkels lost more time to finish in 25:52 minutes and drop down to third place overall, but Wiebes did well to limit her losses to 21 seconds.
Cordon-Ragot was crowned as the stage winner with her 25:15 time but Wiebes takes a six-second lead over Cordon-Ragot into the final stage.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
