On this 147.2km stage from Collonges-La-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaux, the teams in the peloton had the opportunity to beat the predictions of a sprint finish.
One after the other, a number of cyclists tried their luck with attacks, such as Germany’s Kathrin Hammes and Julie Van de Velde, a Belgian cyclist who was caught less than 1km from the finish line. Jade, Grace and Loes tried, in vain, to take the good shots in front of a peloton determined to only give a free ride to solo attempts.
Cecilie and Evita, well protected all day by their team-mates, finished in a field led by the DSMs after the finish, which was won in a sprint by the day’s favourite, Lorena Wiebes, ahead of Marianne Vos. Vittoria Guazzini, after a difficult stage yesterday, was able to reassure herself today by joining in the final surge.
Our Danish leader, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, is still in the top 10 overall, 1’05 behind the yellow jersey, Lotte Kopecky. Evita Muzic was 14th overall, at 1’09.
© Thibaut Mongis
