With a peace sign gesture across the line, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) toasted her second victory in as many days at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women on Thursday.
Stage two from Clitheroe to Blackpool was neutralised for an hour after just 35km of racing due to a road traffic accident further up the route. It restarted with 66km to go, and finished in a bunch sprint on the seafront.
Wiebes opened her winning kick with 250m to go, lashing into a headwind. She held off Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) to extend her lead in the general classification.
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The Dutchwoman, who also won the opening two stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift earlier this month, now carries a 14-second advantage over Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) and Le Court-Pienaar into stage three’s uphill finish on the Great Orme.
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
A blockage on the route out of Clitheroe meant the riders faced a half-hour delay in the rain at the start of stage two. The first 7.7km were then neutralised, as the peloton followed alternative roads, before rejoining the original course at around 20km, ahead of the 3.3km-long categorised climb of Waddington Fell.
In search of QOM points, Alberte Greve (Uno-X Mobility) and Marta Jaskulska (Human Powered Health) dared to attack the bunch early. The pair were eventually swallowed up just short of the summit, where SD Worx-Protime’s Steffi Häberlin took full honours.
Greve’s team-mate Katrine Aalerud then went solo on the approach to the second categorised climb, Nick o’ Pendle. Nearing the top, however, the Norwegian was met with a red flag, as the stage was halted due to a road traffic accident further up the route.
The stoppage lasted half an hour, during which time the riders waited on the road in the rain, wearing jackets given to them by their team staff.
The stage restarted under an escort from the lead race vehicle, with both the QOM on Nick o’ Pendle, and the intermediate sprint in Whalley neutralised.
An hour on from the initial stoppage, Aalerud was then allowed to restore her 50-second lead, and racing got underway again with 66km to go.
The Uno-X rider continued on her own for another 23km. As the race barrelled towards the coast, she was reeled in by the peloton, and attacks began flying; blows came courtesy of Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL), Alice Towers (Great Britain) and Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility), until 19-year-old Oda Aune Gissinger (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) managed to strike hard enough to distance the bunch in the pouring rain.
Drawing on the time trial prowess that earned her a bronze medal at the Junior Road World Championships last year, Gissinger grew her gap out to 50 seconds with 10km to go. The sprint trains then accelerated along the Lancashire coast, and halved the Norwegian’s advantage in 4km.
Inside 5km from the line, Gissinger was swept up by the bunch, and the sprint finale began. Consonni’s Canyon-SRAM, Lara Gillespie’s UAE Team L’IMAD, and Clara Copponi’s Lidl-Trek all tried to force their way to the front for their sprinters, but no team could match the well-drilled finish of SD Worx-Protime, who towed Wiebes away for her 17th victory of the season.
Results
Lloyds Tour of Britain Women, stage two: Clitheroe > Blackpool (110km)
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 3:29:26
2. Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Human Powered Health
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal
4. Nienke Veenhoven (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Lara Gillespie (Irl) UAE Team L’IMAD
6. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-Sram
7. Clara Copponi (Fra) Lidl-Trek
8. Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Uno-X Mobility
9. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ United-Suez
10. Juliana Londoño (Col) Picnic PostNL, all at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 7:32:15
2. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-Sram, +14s
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal, at same time
4. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L’IMAD, +15s
5. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +16s
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