Another rainy day in the Netherlands sees former Dutch champion escape the break
Loes Gunnewijk (Nederland Bloeit) won the third stage of the Profile Holland Ladies Tour in Breda as she escaped from the rest of the breakaway group with 15km to go. The former Dutch champion finished 27 seconds clear of teammate – and current champion – Marianne Vos, who outsprinted Kirsten Wild (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) at the end of the rainy 115.2km stage.
“Our team actually wanted to do something late on,” explained Gunnewijk at the finish, “but the opportunity was just perfect. I managed to open the gap further and confirm that my form is right where is should be at the moment.”
Once again the rain and wind that have characterised the race so far allowed a group of fourteen riders to escape in the early kilometres, largely made up of the same riders that had been away on stage one.
With Gunnewijk, Vos and Wild were two more Nederland Bloeit riders in Sarah Düster and Annemiek van Vleuten, and another AA Drink-Leontien.nl rider in Chantal Blaak. Also included were HTC-Highroad trio Chloe Hosking, Ellen van Dijk and Ina Teutenberg, Hitec Products-UCK pair Emma Johansson and Lisa Brennauer, as well as Cherise Taylor (Lotto Honda), Joelle Numainville (Tibco-To the Top) and former Italian champion Monia Baccaille (MCipollini-Giambenini).
The group continued to pull away from the rest of the peloton over the flat parcours that included sections of cobbles. 15km from the end, as the break crossed over a bridge – one of the few contours on the course – Gunnewijk accelerated and opened up a gap. Finding herself in the lead, the 30-year-old persisted with her attack and, with three teammates in the group behind her, managed to open up a stage-winning lead.
Vos holds on to the orange jersey and, with time bonuses on the line – and at intermediate sprints – increases her lead over Johansson to 40 seconds.
Result stage 3
1. Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 27s
3. Kirsten Wild (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl
4. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products-UCK
5. Cherise Taylor (RSA) Lotto Honda Team
6. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
7. Joelle Numainville (Can) Tibco-To the Top
8. Chloe Hosking (Aus) HTC-Highroad
9. Chantal Blaak (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl
10. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Highroad
Standings after stage 3
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products-UCK @ 40s
3. Kirsten Wild (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl @ 1’04”
4. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Highroad @ 1’09”
5. Chantal Blaak (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl @ 2’26”
6. Chloe Hosking (Aus) HTC-Highroad @ 2’28”
7. Sarah Düster (Ger) Nederland Bloeit @ 2’59”
8. Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 3’28”
9. Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Hitec Products-UCK @ 3’36”
10. Joelle Numainville (Can) Tibco-To the Top 4’42”