Jumbo-Visma rider out-paces Uttrup Ludwig to further extend race lead
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Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) wins stage 3 of the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Stage winner (left) Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma hits the line ahead of Shari Bossuyt (Canyon-SRAM Racing), in third, Gladys Verhulst (Le Col Wahoo), in fifth, and Alexandra Manly (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) in fourth in Sarpsborg(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Alexandra Manly (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) competes during stage 3(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Amber Kraak (Jumbo-Visma) in the queen of the mountains jersey in the peloton(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Liane Lippert (left) of Team DSM and Sofia Bertizzolo of UAE Team ADQ during stage 3(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The peloton begins 118.9km stage from Moss to Sarpsborg(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma celebrates stage 3 victory(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig of FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope on second place poses on the podium ceremony(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Shari Bossuyt of Canyon-SRAM Racing receives White Best Young Jersey(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Alison Jackson of Liv Racing Xstra on the podium with the Green Points Jersey (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) has completed a stage victory hat-trick at the Tour of Scandinavia, winning the uphill sprint in Sarpsborg after an aggressive finale.
Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) attacked just after the peloton entered the finishing circuit and led by 18 seconds with three 6.7km laps to go. At the intermediate sprint with two laps to go, Barnes was 23 seconds ahead but was caught soon after starting the final lap.
After attacks by Anouska Koster (Team Jumbo-Visma), Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx), and Floortje Mackaij (Team DSM) were shut down, the stage came down to an uphill sprint. Danish champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ SUEZ Futuroscope) opened the sprint with 180 metres to go, but Vos was on her wheel and came past 80 metres from the line to win by a bike length. Shari Bossuyt (Canyon-SRAM) finished third.
Vos goes into stage 4 with a 22-second GC lead over Bossuyt, Uttrup Ludwig is third overall at 24 seconds.
“The last 60 kilometres were pretty hard. It was a really nice race, a lot of attacks, especially on the last lap, and it was hard to stay in front and cover all the moves. We tried to stay in control and be with every break, and in the end, I tried to be in the right wheel,” Vos said.
It is not the first time that Vos wins three stages in a row in Scandinavia – she did the same feat in 2018 and 2019 in the Ladies Tour of Norway, the predecessor of the Tour of Scandinavia, and has now collected 11 stage wins in the race.
“I am not so much better than anybody else, just trying to stay focused and do well every day. The level is really high, and everything is close, I’m just very happy that it all worked out three times in a row,” Vos continued.
The stage win is Vos’ 245th individual victory in a UCI race, but winning is still special for her. “I can’t say that it’s getting boring. It’s never the same, road cycling is like a game, you have to play it, be there as a team, be smart, sometimes be lucky, and you also have to work hard,” she finished.
How it unfolded
Together with stage 4, this was the shortest stage of the six-day race at 119 km from Moss to Sarpsborg, finishing on a technical circuit with lots of turns and an uphill finishing straight, rising 5 percent on the last 400 metres.
Elena Pirrone (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Josie Nelson (Team Coop-Hitec Products) formed the early break and had an advantage of 3:33 minutes halfway through the stage. This was quickly reduced when Team BikeExchange-Jayco increased the pace and the peloton split because of a crash over a speed bump.
Pirrone and Nelson were only a minute ahead when the peloton got together again, and attacks meant that the race never settled down. Eventually, Lourdes Oyarbide (Movistar Team) got away from the bunch and bridged to the front duo where Pirrone sat up and dropped back to the peloton only 15 seconds behind. Oyarbide dropped Nelson on the climb to Greåker before being caught herself a few kilometres later, just before reaching the Sarpsborg circuit.
Barnes made her move at the start of what were almost four whole laps. Mie Ottestad (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) tried to bridge to her but was caught on the first time up the finishing straight with 20 km to go while Barnes maintained her advantage, winning the intermediate sprint with two laps to go.
Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) was second in the intermediate sprint to defend her green points jersey against Vos by a single point and carried on after the sprint before being reeled in. Trek-Segafredo tried to get away on the penultimate lap, first with Lucinda Brand, then with Lauretta Hanson, but without success.
Brand attacked again on the finishing straight with one lap to go, and Vos was right on her wheel. This move finally closed the gap to Barnes, and on the final lap there were attacks by Koster, Tamara Dronova (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad), Vas, and Bertizzolo. Brand and Vos were among the riders neutralising these moves, and teams organised themselves for the uphill sprint on the last three kilometres.
Emilia Fahlin led out her teammate Uttrup Ludwig, and Alexandra Manly (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) came to the front with 300 metres to go. Uttrup Ludwig kicked when the finish line came into sight, but Vos came around her to prevent a Scandinavian stage win for the third time in a row. Bossuyt beat Manly to the line for third place.
Vos’ teammate Amber Kraak defended her mountain jersey by taking points from the peloton while Bossuyt is the new wearer of the white U23 jersey. Susanne Andersen, 12th on the stage and 11th overall, is the best Norwegian rider.
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.
