How the Race Finished
Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) took the fourth stage of the Tour of Scandinavia, capping off a race where she has dominated every non-mountain stage. She finished ahead of Shari Bossuyt (Canyon//SRAM) and Barbara Guarischi (Movistar), on a treacherous, technical finishing circuit, after a perfect display from Jumbo-Visma. Vos finishes the race with four stages, though she has ceded the yellow jersey to Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope), who protected it today from the threat of Liane Lippert (Team DSM).
The Main Action
The started with a five-strong breakaway: Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing Xstra), Sylvie Swinkels (Coop-Hitec Products), April Tacey (LeCol-Wahoo), Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg), and Maud Rijnbeek (AG Insurance NXTG). They were allowed far more leash than most breakaways in this highly aggressive Tour of Scandinavia, getting as much as a five minute lead. From the breakaway, Katia Ragusa took the first intermediate sprint, and the Queen of the Mountains points.
The peloton was relatively sedate – they were perhaps anticipating a chaotic finish with the city-centre circuits – but as they approached 50km to go, the pace picked up, and the breakaway’s gap dropped quickly from five minutes to just two. Katia Ragusa dropped from the break after a puncture, and their lead dwindled further. Behind, FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope were doing their duty, as the team with the leader’s jersey, and controlling the gap; they were joined in the work by Jumbo-Visma, since the stage looked likely for another Vos victory. As they approached Halden, with 30km to go, the remains of the break had just 30 seconds. They were caught with 20km to go: it was now all about the sprint lead-outs.
On the finishing circuit. FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope were a prominent presence on the front, protecting Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. There were a few solo attacks: With 14.5km to go, Jeanne Korevaar (Liv Racing Xstra) hovered off the front for two laps: she had a decent gap, over ten seconds,, but the pace was always hectic behind her . Anouska Koster (Jumbo-Visma) made a break for it in the final lap. Most notably, and most dangerously, Liane Lippert made a last-ditch attempt to move up from second on GC, with an attack with just 3.7km to go, flying up the small cobbled climb on the circuit. She trailed Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig by just 17 seconds – a gap on the line, plus the bonus seconds for winning, could have pushed her onto the top step of the podium. Uttrup Ludwig snapped into action, however, and reeled her back in.
Koster was still out front. DSM and BikeExchange were chasing her down, burning up their resources for the sprint. With 500m to go, she still had a gap. but Canyon//SRAM were closing down the gap – with Vos hovering on their wheel. They passed Koster in the final hundred metres, and, unsurprisingly, Marianne Vos won.
Results
The final top 3 in the GC remains the same as yesterday: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ – Suez – Futuroscope) in first, Liane Lippert (Team DSM) in second and Alex Manly (BikeExchange-Jayco) in third. Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) won the points jersey; she has dominated the classification all week. Amber Kraak (Jumbo-Visma) won the peacock-feather Queen of the Mountains jersey with a commanding lead. Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM) won the youth classification, with her teammate Shari Bossuyt in second. Team DSM won the team classification.
