Ladies Tour of Norway (st. 3)

Spaniard completes great progression through steep final climbs, stays away from crashes affecting Aude Biannic, Sheyla Gutiérrez. Race leader Vos (CCC) claims second consecutive win.

It was another exhibition from Marianne Vos (CCC) on stage three of the 2019 Ladies Tour of Norway, a 125km rolling route with two final climbs (1.3km at 7.3%) to the Fredriksten Fortress in Halden. The Dutchwoman took advantage from the first ascent to leave behind the GC group, escaping alongside American Coryn Rivera (SUN), and distanced the latter into the final meters of the second climb to take the solo victory.

The crashes were crucial for the race’s development, with two significant incidents hampering the Movistar Team’s chances. A big pileup into the bunch with 40km remaining took almost all Blues down -Patiño, Oyarbide and a quite sore González and Biannic-, with Aude forced to chase back to the peloton for several kilometers. Another touch of wheels with 15km to go took, in turn, Sheyla Gutiérrez out of contention, having avoided the first crash together with Mavi García.

It was indeed García who led the Blues home with a notable display -8th, +17″ from Vos-, improving from a challenging position at the first climb and bridging back to a pursuit group including Biannic. It was the Movistar Team’s third top-ten result of the week, with three different riders, before Sunday’s showdown in the Nordic race, a long 156km – mostly on Swedish soil – towards yet another circuit in Halden.

Cover picture (c): Velofocus