Wiebes wins second stage of Simac Ladies Tour after bunch sprint, Balsamo beaten by mere millimeters

On Wednesday, after Backstedt won the opening time trial, it was time for the first road stage of the Simac Ladies Tour. The WorldTour race on Dutch soil set off from Coevorden, from where we were heading north to the finish line in Assen. Before the start, race leader Backstedt saw no less than three of her four teammates withdraw due to various reasons, leaving her with only Alex Morrice as her remaining teammate.

From the start, very little actually happened. While there are usually a few riders who break away early, no one attempted it this time. The course was almost entirely flat, with the Col du VAM (500 meters at 4.4%) as the day's only climb. It seemed everyone had already settled for a bunch sprint scenario.

On the VAM mountain climb, 155 kilometers from the finish, we saw the only acceleration in the entire middle section. Jeanne Koorevaar (Liv AlUla Jayco) launched a brief attack just before the top, taking all five mountain points. Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) and Franziska Koch (dsm-firmenich PostNL) claimed the remaining points. The women continued on toward Assen with a complete peloton.

So was no one going to attack today? Actually, someone did! With about fifty kilometers to go, Dutch rider Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) decided to go off on her own. It was a brave effort by the 22-year-old youngster. The peloton, kept at a steady pace by SD-Worx Protime, allowed last year’s European champion among the U23 to build a lead of up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Pluimers still held this advantage at 22 kilometers from the finish.

From that point on, the peloton picked up speed, and Pluimers’ lead started to shrink rapidly. She held on impressively, only being caught a mere six hundred meters (!) from the finish. Nevertheless, she couldn't prevent a bunch sprint, in which all the sprinters were well-positioned. Wiebes, well led by Lotte Kopecky, sprinted hard, as did Balsamo with a powerful finish. Kool couldn’t keep up with the top two sprinters, so she settled for third place. Thanks to her throw, Wiebes ended up beating the Italian by mere millimeters, claiming the stage victory. It marked Wiebes' twentieth road victory of the year.