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Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won stage 2 of the Simac Ladies Tour, sprinting to victory in Assen ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL).
Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal) animated the stage with a solo attack that was only reeled in on the penultimate kilometre after SD Worx-Protime had done most of the chase work.
On the finishing straight, Lotte Kopecky led out Wiebes who reacted to Balsamo’s launch, and the two sprinters were neck-to-neck on the final metres, with Wiebes just edging out Balsamo for the win.
Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-Sram) lost all her teammates but continues to lead the overall classification, seven seconds ahead of Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease A Bike).
How it unfolded
Covering 154.8km from Coevorden to Assen, the only real difficulties on a very flat stage were the VAMberg climb up the famous landfill after 38km and the cobblestone sector of the Steenhopenweg after 102km. The wind blew from the south but wasn’t strong enough to force any echelons.
For most of the race, the peloton stayed together, and…
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