LDanish rider Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig claimed her first stage victory on the roads of the Tour de France Women during the third stage in Épernay on Tuesday July 26th. The Danish champion won by slipping away from the leading group. His training lost its co-leader on Monday, Marta Cavalli caught in a fall during the second stage. Second at the finish, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) keeps her yellow jersey.
“It has such a flavor of revenge after the day of m… the day before”, dropped the always very expressive Dane, in tears after this twelfth victory, the biggest of her career, at 26 years old. “I wanted to help the team, keep my fighting spirit, she described. I knew that if I had the legs, I could play for victory. But from there to do it, to become a stage winner in the Tour de France and with this jersey (of Danish champion)… My God, what more could you ask for? »
The selection took place on the Côte de Mutigny (900 meters at 12.2% average gradient) where Julian Alaphilippe took off to win the stage and put on the yellow jersey in the 2019 Tour. Present in a second group , Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig took advantage of the crashes of Demi Vollering and Liane Lipert in the descent and the misunderstanding of the leading group to make the connection six kilometers from the line.
Marianne Vos consolidates her yellow jersey
The 26-year-old climber left no chance for competition in the Avenue de Champagne and its castles from the great Champagne houses. Even Marianne Vos, leader in the general classification, had to give in to Uttrup Ludwig’s thirst for revenge. The Dutch legend, 35, nevertheless consolidated his yellow jersey by beating all his competitors on the finish line.
In these last sixteen kilometers identical to those where Alaphilippe had shone, the immense favorite Annemiek van Vleuten twice showed signs of weakness. The leader of Movistar, winner of the Giro at the start of the month, first yielded in Mount Bernon (1 kilometer at 4.6%) 4 kilometers from the line where her rivals disputed the bonuses. Returning, she gave in again in the final and dropped 20 seconds on the fastest. The Dutchwoman is already almost a minute behind two big rivals, the Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma and the Italian Elisa Longo Borghini.