Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) won the third stage of the Route de France between Saint-Fort and Lavare. The 23-year-old Dutchwoman beat stage 1 winner Ina Teutenberg (HTC-Columbia) and her own teammate Annemiek Van Vleuten at the end of the 129km stage.
The second stage was dominated by a solo attack from Anne Samplonius (Canadian National Team). Vos put her team to work on the front of the peloton though and pulled the Canadian back in time for the finish, where she beat Teutenberg by several lengths.
“We put the whole team to work to bring back the Canadian,” Nederland Bloeit director sportif Jeroen Blijlevens told Wielerland.nl, “because we knew we had a chance in the sprint. Usually Teutenberg wins on pure speed, but with a difficult finish after a tough stage Marianne was just better.
“In that respect this was a good test case for the World Championships in Australia in early October, where a similar finish awaits. Also, of course it’s nice that Van Vleuten stays in the leader’s jersey; we want to defend her lead as soon as possible.”
Such was the speed of the front three that the peloton, led by Sara Mustonen (Hitec Products UCK), finished 3 seconds behind them.
Van Vleuten picked up a further 4 second time bonus, with her second successive third place, and extended her lead in the overall standings except Vos and Teutenberg.
Tomorrow’s stage will cover 115.8km between Bonneval and Cloyes-sur-le-Loire.
Result stage 2
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
2. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia
3. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
4. Sara Mustonen (Swe) Hitec Products UCK @ 3s
5. Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam
6. Rasa Leleivyte (Ltu) Safi-Pasta Zara
7. Kirsty Broun (Aus) Australian National Team
8. Pascale Jeuland (Fra) Vienne-Futuroscope
9. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Gauss-RDZ-Ormu
10. Oxana Kozonchuk (Rus) Safi-Pasta Zara
Standings after stage 2
1. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 9s
3. Sarah Düster (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam @ 11s
4. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia @ 15s
5. Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) Safi-Pasta Zara @ 18s