Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) sprinted to her second stage victory on stage 3b at the Baloise Ladies Tour. The Dutch sprinter used the slipstream of race leader Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) to launch her sprint in the Grote Markt in Maaseik.
Gladys Verhulst-Wild (AG Insurance-Soudal) edged out Maike van der Duin (Canyon-SRAM) to take second in a tight duel.
Bäckstedt crossed the line safely in tenth place and retained her overall lead with 23 seconds on Australian time trial champion Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl-Trek). Stage 2 winner Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) sits in third, at 30 seconds.
“We all started the second stage of the day with a lot of motivation. As a team, we were always well positioned at the key points; we really did that very well," Veenhoven said.
"The communication was once again excellent today, and everyone started with the same plan in mind. It was really great to see and gave me extra motivation to go for it again."
Taking place in Limburg, the first time the race had visited the region, stage 3b was the second of two stages held on Saturday, following the morning's time trial, which Bäckstedt won.
Over the flat roads of the four-lap 104.8km race, a fairly disorganised peloton stayed mostly together.
The final 45 kilometres saw a handful of attacks, with Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek) and Wilson-Haffenden each trying separately to break away, but Bäckstedt was quick to react and close down the moves each time.
Racing concludes on Sunday with stage 4, a 114km circuit around Mechelen, and another flat stage perfect for a bunch sprint.
“I think tomorrow will be another sprint, but there will undoubtedly be some hard racing,” Veenhoven looked ahead. “It’s the final day, so there will certainly be riders who still want to try something to move up in the general classification. We’ll have to stay sharp as a team throughout the day.”
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