The second stage of the 4th Tour de Pologne Women took place on a flat route from Włodawa to Lubartów. The fastest in the finish from the entire group turned out to be Lorena Wiebes from Team SD Worx-Protime, who reached for another victory. The Dutchwoman also leads the ORLEN General Classification and the LOTTO Most Active Rider Classification.
The competition of the world’s top women’s cycling in the Lubelskie Voivodeship is in full swing. The competitors raced today on the second stage of the 4th Tour de Pologne Women, held on the route from Włodawa to Lubartów, devoid of major terrain difficulties.
Over 118 kilometers, the competitors rode through the charming corners of the Lublin region – the peloton started from the Bug River and along the way passed, among others, the Polesie National Park. In Ludwin in the Łęczna County, the cyclists fought for today’s only LOTTO Sprint Prime.
In the first part of the stage, the peloton rode quite calmly, but after several dozen kilometers, the cyclists went on the attack. A slight advantage was worked out by Quinty Ton (Liv Jayco AlUla), riding in the blue jersey of the LOTTO Most Active Rider in replacement for Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime), who entered today’s stage in the yellow jersey of the leader of the ORLEN General Classification.
However, the Liv-Jayco-AlUla cyclist was caught, and the full set of points and another 3 seconds of time bonus at the LOTTO Sprint Prime were won by Lorena Wiebes, increasing her lead in both classifications. Shortly afterwards, more competitors went on the attack, and the American Katherine Sarkisov stayed ahead the longest, motivated as she covered subsequent kilometers.
At one point, her advantage over the peloton led by Team SD Worx-Protime was over a minute. In the final 10 kilometers, however, she was caught, and the peloton fought for the win once again. The leader of the ORLEN General Classification, Lorena Wiebes, was unrivaled, once again becoming the LOTTO Stage Winner and maintaining the lead in the entire race.
– We wanted to finish at the sprint if there was no breakaway, which we succeeded in doing. Later, the cyclist from the USA rode away, but I had full trust in my teammates. The girls did a great job. We got a little lost at the end, but fortunately I found Marta Lach and Lisa van Belle, I was able to find space and started the sprint a bit early, but it turned out well. Tomorrow we will try to win again – commented Lorena Wiebes.
Right behind the Dutchwoman finished Lara Gillespie from UAE Team ADQ. Interestingly, at the very end, the Irish champion had a defect, but she quickly returned to the group and showed a very good side at the finish line. Third today was Elisa Balsamo from Lidl-Trek. In the top “10” were Olga Wankiewicz (MAT ATOM Deweloper Wrocław) and Kaja Rysz (Polish National Team), who took 8th and 10th places, respectively.
– It was nervous, but we tried to be properly at the front to be in the best possible position. On the last kilometer I drifted back a bit, but I managed to get through and at least I could finish, because yesterday I was stopped by a crash. It’s not a super placement, but I’m happy with the girls’ work, so everything went almost according to plan – said Kaja Rysz from the Polish national team.
Before the final stage of the 4th Tour de Pologne Women, Lorena Wiebes leads the ORLEN General Classification and the LOTTO Most Active Rider Classification.
– We started in Włodawa, a beautiful place where 3 borders meet. It’s a town with an atmosphere and soul, which the competitors liked. We finished in Lubartów after 118 kilometers and Lorena Wiebes, a decisive leader backed by a strong team, reached for the victory. There were also attempts at breakaways, escapes, before the finish line an American was escaping, but at the end the team with Marta Lach consolidated beautifully and led out Lorena Wiebes. I am happy with the attitude of the Polish women, because places in the top ten in such a race are a really good result – described Czesław Lang, General Director of the 4th Tour de Pologne Women.
Tomorrow the last stage of this year’s 4th Tour de Pologne Women will take place. The peloton will travel from Janowiec to Lublin, where the elite women’s competition will end. The broadcast produced by Telewizja Polska starting at 14:00 will be available on TVP 1 and at 14:15 on the Eurosport 1 channel. At the same time, the race can be followed live on the HBO Max streaming platform, thanks to which it will reach fans from 65 countries.