Just like in the prologue and the 1st stage, Marianne Vos, Jolien D’Hoore and Coryn Rivera completed the podium, this time with Jolien D’Hoore being the fastest. The Belgian takes over the jersey from Marianne with a small advantage to our rider.

In the stage (106 kilometres) with start and finish in Herselt, several riders accelerated with Barbara Guarischi, Lotte Kopecky and Vita Heine being the ones who got away, followed by Winanda Spoor who could make the connection.

DS Jeroen Blijlevens is satisfied with the way the stage developed. “We had agreed in the team meeting to stay complacent”, he says. Out of the 4, Kopecky was the best classified rider. “The plan was to close the gap if push comes to shove.”

The 4 collected a gap of around 2 minutes. Among others, the USA selection took the initiative to close the gap. “In the last lap, we decided to take matters in our own hands in order to pan out the stage into a sprint”, says Jeroen Blijlevens.

The quartet was caught in the final kilometre. It seemed that Marianne was going for the win, but was overtaken by a strong Jolien D’Hoore. Coryn Rivera finished behind Marianne, populating the podium for the 3rd time in row with the same riders.

Goal is the overall victory
The riders await a tough final stage on Friday. Jeroen Blijlevens is hopeful for a good result from his team. “Marianne Vos, Anouska Koster and Jeanne Korevaar are close in the ranking as are 3 others with only a small gap”, according to Blijlevens. “We want to be comfortable in the race and whenever possible, be part of a leading group. The goal is the overall victory.”