After winning the prologue and the stage 1 sprint, Charlotte Kool (Team dsm-firmenich) secured a hat trick of wins on stage 2 in Zulte, out-sprinting runner-up Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma) and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) for her third win in a row at the Baloise Ladies Tour.
“Today was hard to control. The other teams never made it easy for us but the girls were outstanding. Especially Nienke [Vinke], who had ten lives today and what she did together with the other girls in the final is really impressive,” Kool said of the finish.
“We managed to get the bunch back together and controlled in the last lap. Then Daniek [Hengeveld] put me in a perfect position and I could do a perfect sprint, to finish off all the hard work. For the girls, it’s not easy at all but they are amazing and I’m proud of them.”
Kool extended her lead in the overall classification to 18 seconds over runner-up Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) and 20 seconds ahead of third-placed Norsgaard.
The field raced 116.2km in Zulte across a hilly first half followed by five circuits to close out the stage with a sprint. Team dsm-firmenich closed down several attacks throughout the stage, reeling in the day’s major breakaway with 40kkm to go, to pu Kool in position to win the bunch sprint.
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