Marianne Vos just about missed the opportunity to win the leader’s jersey in stage 1 of the Ladies Tour of Norway. She took bonus points during 2 intermediate sprints and was virtual leader for a while. She finished 5th in the final sprint. The Belgian Jolien D’Hoore won the stage and barely jumped over Marianne in the general classification by 2 seconds.
In the run-up to the Ladies Tour of Norway, Marianne Vos received a brand new Ridley bike with a special design, fitting her European champion’s jersey. She started, however, on her familiar Ridley Aura XL on Friday afternoon consistent with her green points jersey she was wearing after the prologue.
With the support of the entire team, Marianne showed her eagerness already early on in the race, grabbing enough seconds by being 2nd in the first intermediate sprint and becoming the virtual leader.
WM3 Pro Cycling continued to increase the time margin during the rest of the stage. When 2 riders broke away at 30 kilometres from the finish line, all WM3-riders took the front to catch these 2 leaders. Marianne Vos successfully completed the team performance by winning the subsequent intermediate sprint.
Several riders tried to get away from the peloton in the final (3 local laps of well over 6 kilometres, including a climb and a short unpaved stretch) but too many teams had an interest in a sprint. Marianne had a proper lead-out, but lost her ideal position in the last turn. Jolien D’Hoore won the stage and collected sufficient bonus points to also get the yellow leader’s jersey. Marianne took the 5th place, Kasia Niewiadoma was 8th.
“The start, with wide roads, was dreary. The stage did not really get rolling, unlike in the final laps when it became more dynamic with the twisting and turning and the small climb”, says DS Jeroen Blijlevens. “The team carried out their task very well. We wanted to take time with the intermediate sprints and to drop off Marianne at the right time. Unfortunately, the sprint did not work out as planned. These things happen.”
More racing
According to Jeroen Blijlevens, the riders await a tough day in the Ladies Tour of Norway on Saturday. “A first stage is always a bit of exploring. Tomorrow, we will see more racing. The stage is longer and more challenging.”
