The Women’s Tour (st. 3)

Frenchwoman back in the mix at the bunch sprint after two serious pile-up, the first of which -with González as main Movistar Team rider involved- kept the race neutralized for 40 minutes.

German Lisa Brennauer (WNT) is the new leader of the 2019 The Women’s Tour after Jolien D’hoore (DLT) scored her second sprint victory in the 145km stage three in Oxfordshire, from Henley-on-Thames to Blenheim Palace.

The Movistar Team again had Roxane Fournier (4th, by the shortest of margins) in the mix after a stage full of awful incidents. A brutal crash with 80km to go forced the race jury to neutralise the event, with three Movistar Team riders down: Sheyla Gutiérrez, Fournier herself as well as Alicia González.

The Asturian allrounder got the worst result of the three, with blows and bruises to her right leg and face which required attention from the race doctors both during the stop -a bulky bandage over her knee- and after the race. All six Blues, though, were able to finish, all of them (but Oyarbide) in the bunch.

Thursday will see the riders take on the toughest, most decisive stages in the west of the United Kingdom. Day four, 159km in length, will connect Warwick with Burton Dassett, with a tough final circuit covering three laps over a 1.2km climb at 5%. The Movistar Team remains on top of the squads’ competition.

Cover picture (c): Velofocus