Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), once again, dominated the sprint with a fifth victory on stage 6 at the Simac Ladies Tour, where she also claimed the overall title for the second time in her career.
Wiebes capitalized on strong teamwork from SD Worx-Protime during the entire stage, and in the closing kilometres of the race, but in the last few hundred metres, she launched her sprint off of Visma-Lease a Bike’s train to claim the stage victory.
How it unfolded
The final stage at the Simac Ladies Tour offered a 156.5km race starting and finishing in Lichtenvoorde, where Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who had won four stages, began the day in the overall classification lead.
While the course was pancake flat, the peloton did contest several short gravel sectors in the first half of the race, and then three shorter finishing circuits.
High winds and echelons have been the theme this week during the Dutch race, and that was no different on stage 6 as the peloton began to split apart at 95km to go.
Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco) was the next to launch an attack, pushing her lead out to more than two minutes with 60km remaining, but with SD WOrx-Protime setting a fast pace at the front of the peloton, her chances of staying away were slim.
A crash among the peloton took down several riders with 31km to go, just ahead of a left-hand turn along the narrow roads.
As Talbot was caught, there were multiple counterattacks, especially from Liv AlUla Jayco, inside the final 20km, but all were marked by SD Worx-Protime, holding the field together in hopes of another sprint finale.
Jeanne Korevaar (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance-Soudal) attempted a two-up breakaway, but were quickly caught.
Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) was the next to break the elastic band, and Valerie…
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