Kirsten Wild (Cervélo TestTeam) won the fourth stage of the Holland Ladies Tour in Diepenheim, in the east of the Netherlands. Having finished third on stage 1, and second on stage 3, the Dutch sprinter finally got her victory in her home Tour. She beat yesterday’s stage winner Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) and Giorgia Bronzini (Mixteam Merida/Gauss) at the end of the 97km stage.
“The breakaway was a good situation for us today as it included [Wild’s teammate] Sarah Düster, one of the highest ranked GC riders in the group and then everything came together and we were prepared for the sprint,” said Wild, after her victory. “Sarah and [teammate] Charlotte Becker did a perfect lead out. I came pretty early to the front with 275 meters to go but I was able to hold it.
“I am really happy to win a stage here in my home race against the best sprinters in the world,” she added. “Everything had to go perfect and today was that day.”
On the entirely flat course, which was made up of five 19km laps, a group of 18 rider managed to get a lead of 50 seconds over the peloton. Race leader Martine Bras (Mixteam Merida/Gauss) was forced to put her team to work to bring them back, at which point the Cervélo TestTeam took over to deliver Wild to the line.
With the entire peloton finishing together stage 2 winner Bras still holds the race leader’s orange jersey. The top three places in the overall classification continue to be held by the breakaway trio from that stage but, with the time bonuses they are picking up on the line, Wild and Vos are steadily closing the gap.
Result stage 4
1. Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
3. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Mixteam Merida/Gauss
4. Emma Johansson (Swe) RedSun Cycling Team
5. Shelley Olds (USA) United States National Team
6. Monique van de Ree (Ned) Leontien.nl
7. Chloe Hosking (Aus) HTC-Columbia
8. Denise Zuckermandel (Ger) German National Team
9. Suzanne De Goede (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
10. Anne Arnouts (Bel) RedSun Cycling Team
Standings after stage 4
1. Martine Bras (Ned) Mixteam Merida/Gauss
2. Valentina Bastianelli (Ita) Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo-Ghezzi @ 7s
3. Janneke Ensing (Ned) Dolmans Landscaping Wielerteam @ 13s
4. Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam @ 18s
5. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 19s