Halfway through the Boels Ladies Tour, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten is taking full advantage of an opportunity to catch Women’s World Tour seasonal leader Marianne Vos (NED), who is not riding in an event she has won four times previously.
Van Vleuten, who finished second on the Tour last year, entered the race 234.55 points behind Vos, and has won two of the first three stages to forge a 29-second lead over Eugenia Bujak (SLO) and 30 seconds over Dutch riders Ellen van Dijk (the 2013 champion) and Lucinda Brand.
Scoring for World Tour races is 200-150-125-100-85-70-60-50-40-35 for the top ten places and on down to 40th. For the multi-stage Boels Ladies Tour, there are also stage points from 25 for a win, down to four for 10th place, so Van Vleuten could take the lead with two races remaining! Summaries so far:
UCI Women’s World Tour/Boels Ladies Tour
Netherlands ~ 28 August-02 September 2018
(Full results here)
Prologue (3.3 km): 1. Annemiek Van Vleuten (NED), 4:22; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 4:29; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 4:30; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 4:31; 5. Lisa Brennauer (GER), 4:31. Also in the top 50: 21. Megan Guarnier (USA), 4:42; … 26. Leah Thomas (USA), 4:43; … 29. Tayler Wiles (USA), 4:44; … 44. Lily Williams (USA), 4:49.
Stage 1 (132,2 km): 1. Val Vleuten (NED), 3:28:29; 2. Eugenia Bujak (SLO), 3:28:41; 3. Elena Cecchini (ITA), 3:28:41; 4. Marta Cavalli (ITA), 3:28:41; 5. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 3:28:41. Also in the top 50: 16. Wiles (USA), 3:28:41; … 23. Guarnier (USA), 3:28:41; … 27. Thomas (USA), 3:28:45.
Stage 2 (129.0 km): 1. Amalie Dideriksen (DEN), 2:58:57; 2. Lorena Wiebes (NED), 2:58:57; 3. Jolien D’Hoore (BEL), 2:58:57; 4. Maria Confalonieri (ITA), 2:58:57; 5. Amy Pieters (NED), 2:58:57. Also in the top 50: 31. Williams (USA), 2:58:57; … 37. Thomas (USA), 2:58:57.
Stage 3: 31 August Stramproy to Weert (124.3 km)
Stage 4: 01 September Sittard to Sittard (158.4 km)
Stage 5: 02 September Roosendaal to Roosendaal (Individual Time Trial: 18.6 km)
