Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) took an explosive victory in the final stage of the Tour of Scandinavia, attacking the peloton with only 700m remaining to finish five seconds ahead of the field, leaving her a painful two seconds behind in the overall classification, won by Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar).
Uttrup Ludwig made her attack in the midst of the sprint leadouts on the final rise of the 144km stage, leaving Van Vleuten in the yellow jersey to tow the field back to the green jersey holder in defence of her 17-second advantage in the general classification.
Behind the Danish stage winner, Lidl-Trek had worked hard in the final kilometres to position Elisa Balsamo for the sprint, but she was pipped on the line by Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx) in the battle for second.
“The last few laps were cray in the rain, oh my god,” Uttrup Ludwig said following the finish. “It was like flooding, full-on rain, but I was a woman on a mission. I wanted to give it my all and I really did.
“I think I tried a few times and we also tried to split it a bit earlier in the win. That didn’t happen but it was good fun.”
The breakaway’s impressive efforts throughout the stage - drawn short by an unfortunate crash just outside 20km - meant attacks in the main field were tricky.
“Because of the breakaway the speed was just high and we were chasing so it wasn’t really possible to then go, but then it kind of stalled and came to the climb and I was like: we might as well try a bit," she said. “I’m proud of how we raced as a team and the girls were so good.”
Speaking about her ambitions for the GC, Uttrup Ludwig said, “17 seconds, I thought that was in reach, and it almost was.
“It’s a pity to lose but I’m really proud of how we raced as a team, and three victories out of five stages is a pretty good score. So we can be happy with how we race and we continue to do this because this is fun racing.”
How it Unfolded
The peloton set off for 144km from Middelfart to Haderslev under sunny conditions, and attacks came quickly, with Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset from Coop - Hitec Product in the opening kilometres.
It proved to be short-lived, with the pack back together with 130km remaining, and stayed together over the Birkemose golf club climb with 100km remaining, where Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) took the mountain classification sprint points to extend her lead over Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in the QOM classification to 7 points - making her the de facto winner.
Shortly after an intermediate sprint at 89km remaining, won by Maggie Coles-Lyster, a two-rider breakaway, containing Elena Hartmann (Israel-Premier Tech-Roland Development) and Mia Sofia Rützou (Denmark), broke clear. The two had established a gap of 2 minutes with 70km remaining
Anya Louw (AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step) managed to bridge across to the leaders to make a breakaway of three, and soon after Mia Sofia Rützou was dropped by her breakaway companions with 60km remaining. That left a two-up breakaway to fend for stage victory.
They didn't squander the opportunity, either, with the gap to the peloton expanding to 3.48 with 50km remaining.
Hartmann and Louw continued to work well together to stretch out a lead of over 4.30 at its peak, as pressure mounted in the peloton to bridge the gap back to the escapees.
With 33km remaining, a small rise coupled with a crash in the peloton splintered the peloton, leaving a reduced but aggressive group in pursuit of the stage leaders as they entered the final 30km with an advantage of over three minutes.
Misfortune struck at 21km remaining, when a race car's positioning led the two breakaway riders to crash into a roadside safety barrier. Louw was able to continue riding solo, while Hartmann's heavier crash meant she was unable to continue out front.
With Hartmann enjoying a temporary stint as the virtual race leader, her crash was especially unfortunate.
Louw rode a brave effort, entering the final 15km (and final two laps) with a 40-second advantage, cut down by an aggressive attack by Uttrup Ludwig in the main peloton.
Louw held her advantage into the final 10km, as torrential rain beat down on the course, but over the next 2km an animated peloton closed the gap, and the scene was set for a sprint finale.
However, with the narrow margin between Van Vleuten and Uttrup Ludwig, the rain-soaked final kilometres took on a more dramatic battle for the overall race victory.
Results
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