The stage 2 summit finish on the Norefjell sorted the Tour of Scandinavia general classification as Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) won the stage and now leads the race eight seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and 17 seconds ahead of Greta Marturano (Fenix-Deceuninck).
But unlike the 2022 edition, where winning on the Norefjell on the penultimate stage all but wrapped up the GC victory for Uttrup Ludwig, she will have to work hard this year in order to keep the yellow jersey on her shoulders.
Stage 3 from Kongsberg to Larvik may be rolling and have an uphill finishing straight but is not expected to bring about any significant time gaps.
After a ferry transfer to Denmark, it will be the stage 4 individual time trial in Herning that will decide the GC. The most dangerous rival for the race leader is second-placed Van Vleuten, but there are other riders that will contend for the GC podium and may even threaten the yellow jersey.
Uttrup Ludwig is a decent time trialist and has won three Danish ITT titles earlier in her career, but a Van Vleuten in form is on a different level: The 40-year-old Dutchwoman is the reigning Olympic ITT champion and won the World ITT Championships twice during her illustrious career. She and Uttrup Ludwig have faced each other in time trials twelve times before, and each time Van Vleuten has achieved the better result.
The most recent ITT for both riders was the Pau ITT that finished the Tour de France Femmes. Neither Van Vleuten nor Uttrup Ludwig were in their best shape that day, but Van Vleuten still took about 2.5 seconds per kilometre on the Dane. Over the 16.5-kilometre course in Herning, this would amount to 41 seconds, easily enough to put Van Vleuten in the lead.
A group of 11 riders finished 31 seconds down on Uttrup Ludwig at the Norefjell and are now 45 seconds behind in GC due to the time bonifications the Dane collected on stages 1 and 2. Two of these 11, Olivia Baril (UAE Team ADQ) and Amber Kraak (Team Jumbo-Visma), performed very well in the Pau ITT and will definitely threaten Marturano for the GC podium: Baril took 3.5 seconds per kilometre on Uttrup Ludwig in Pau, amounting to 58 seconds in Herning. Kraak still gained 2.8 seconds per kilometre, equal to 46 seconds in Herning.
Last but not least, there is Uttrup Ludwig’s teammate Grace Brown. The Australian is 1:18 minutes behind the GC leader after stage 2, but she is also one of the very best time trialists in the women’s peloton,…
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