Simac Ladies Tour stage 2: Lorena Wiebes wins two in a row, increases overall lead

Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) took her second consecutive victory at the Simac Ladies Tour following a day which saw the peloton repeatedly split in crosswinds.

Wiebes made life easier for herself by ensuring she was part of a select group who were able to break away with 57 kilometres remaining in the race as echelons ripped the bunch apart, reducing her competition to just ten other riders, three of whom were her own teammates.

In the final sprint for the line, Wiebes sat on the wheel of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Margaux Vigié, who was the first to attack, before launching her sprint with around 170 metres to the line, cruising to another straightforward win ahead of her nearest challengers, Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek), who finished in second, and Megan Jastrab (Team Picnic-PostNL), who rounded out the podium in third.

Wiebes retains the yellow leader’s jersey heading into stage 3, and looks to be in total control of the overall classification with four stages left to race.

How it unfolded

The second of six stages began and ended in Gennep, taking in 125.4 kilometres around four laps of a circuit. A windy day in the Netherlands caused a number of early splits in the bunch, preventing the formation of a breakaway and instead causing several chases as groups were distanced in the crosswinds.

The peloton split and regrouped several times, and the tension remained high throughout the day, with the brisk pace causing a number of riders to lose touch at the back of the bunch.

Heading into the final 60 kilometres, Lidl-Trek forced a high tempo on the third lap and more splits appeared on an exposed section of the parcours, with a small lead group forming that included some of the race’s key players.

Among the eleven-strong composition was race leader Wiebes, along with three teammates, and Elisa Balsamo with two Lidl-Trek teammates. A number of teams missed out on the move, and a frantic chase began as they tried to bridge the gap to the select lead group.

Fourth on yesterday’s stage, Team Picnic-PostNL’s Pfeiffer Georgi crashed at the worst possible time, losing touch with the leaders after a strong opening to the race on stage 1 yesterday.

The cohesion within the lead group enabled them to stay clear of the chasing peloton, though for a while their gap never extended beyond around 18 seconds. The peloton battled, stretched out into a long line under the sustained pressure being applied by the likes of Canyon-Sram zondacrypto and Liv-AlUla-Jayco, both of whom lacked a rider in the break, and the gap dropped below ten seconds with around 30 kilometres remaining, but the power and organisation went out of the chase as they turned into crosswinds once again, and the leaders’ advantage pushed out over 30 seconds as the bunch split into echelons with 25 kilometres remaining on the stage.

With the difficult conditions and high pace throughout the day, the peloton’s hopes of closing down the high-powered breakaway began to evaporate as the race headed under 20 kilometres to go, with the gap stretching out to 50 seconds.

Though it did shrink back down to around half a minute as the final drew closer, the reduced bunch chasing behind could not make an impact on the lead group, and the final sprint was contested between the eleven riders in the group.

Maria Confalonieri (Uno-X Mobility) and Margaux Vigié were the first two riders to attack for the line, but it was in vain, as Wiebes launched her decisive sprint, an injection of pace that once again proved too much for the rest, though she won by just a bike length ahead of a fierce challenge from Copponi behind her, with Balsamo slightly distanced at the finish.

The two Lidl-Trek riders switch places in the overall standings, with Copponi moving into second behind Wiebes, who leads heading into day three of the race, with two more flat stages ahead before what should be a decisive individual time trial on Saturday.

Results

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