Simac Ladies Tour: Zoe Bäckstedt storms to stage 5 time trial victory as Lorena Wiebes retains overall lead

For the second year running, British TT Champion Zoe Bäckstedt has taken the time trial stage of the Simac Ladies Tour, with race leader Lorena Wiebes (SDWorx-ProTime) losing 33 seconds on the young Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider but easily retaining her top spot overall.

“It’s a really nice feeling. It's not often that we get to race time trials in stage races. The last one was Burgos, and that was maybe a bit too much for me, but it was a nice feeling to win today, and it brought back some memories from Simac last year as well,” Bäckstedt said.

Second in the ultra-flat 10.2-kilometre time trial was Christina Schweinburger (Fenix-Deceuninck), six seconds back, with Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), riding the last TT of her career, in third, 17 seconds adrift.

The last to start on a course held on a mixture of parkland lanes and broader highways, Wiebes came home in ninth, 33 seconds down.

Overall, though, the Dutchwoman has maintained a comfortable 48-second advantage over closest pursuer Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), and with just one flat stage remaining - and Wiebes having won all four previous bunch sprints - barring major disaster, she is now all but certain of overall victory.

How it unfolded

Riding in warm sunshine on the largely rural course with few technical difficulties, four times Finnish National TT Champion Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) established an early marker to beat of 13:11. However, Belgian Marthe Goosens (AG Insurance-Soudal) then rapidly became the first rider to go under 13 minutes, with a time of 12:59, a result that proved very hard to best.

Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek), one of the outsiders for the ultra-short TT test, was 11 seconds adrift, while Italian specialist Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-SUEZ) was much closer, just two seconds down on Goosens. But neither could topple the Belgian.

With Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), though, it was another story. Riding her last ever time trial in what could well be her last ever race, the 38-year-old three-times World TT Champion blasted home seven seconds faster than Goosens.

Plenty of top names were still set to finish, though, so it remained to be seen if this would be Van Dijk's 42nd - and last - TT victory of her star-studded career. As things turned out, first Christina Schweinburger (Fenix-Deceuninck) immediately went 11 seconds faster than Van Dijk with a time of 12:40, and she was then quickly superceded by Bäckstedt by a hefty six seconds.

Rider after rider flashed through the finishing gantry, but Backstedt's time still continued to stand as the best. Of the top GC contenders, Cat Ferguson (Movistar) could only finish 37 seconds down, forcing the Briton to pass on her Best Young Rider's jersey to her compatriot, with Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) even further back, 47 seconds down.

Megan Jastrab (Picnic-PostNL) finished 53 seconds down, dropping from second to third and potentially losing her provisional place on the GC podium to Bäckstedt - although that was yet to be confirmed at the time of writing.

Wiebes, meanwhile, was unable to continue her run of four straight stage wins in Simac's one setpiece GC battle stage. But despite a brief wobble on one left-hand bend mid-course, going briefly off-road, she could complete the course safely 33 seconds back and even deliver a sprint - what else? - for the line.

For the fifth day running, therefore, she remained in the top spot overall, with Balsamo, now second on GC, remaining a distant 48 seconds further back.

While the risk of crosswinds is never too far away in Holland, on paper, Sunday's final flat, exposed stage around Lichtenvoorde to Lichtenvoorde is tailor-made for Weibes.

As a result, apart from the stage win, she is now all but guaranteed the overall victory, too - for what would be a second time in her career in the space of just three years.

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