Canadian Alison Jackson wins green jersey at Ladies Tour of Norway
The Albertan cyclist finished first in the very close points competition
Photo by:
Liv Racing/Twitter
Just weeks after her unexpected Olympic debut, Canadian cyclist Alison Jackson managed to nab the points jersey in the final stage of the four-day Ladies Tour of Norway (Aug. 12-15, 2021.)
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Competing for Liv Racing, Jackson was confident going into the final stage of the race that she would be able to take the green jersey from Kristen Faulkner (Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank) who led the points competition the first three stages.
? The fight for the green jersey is really tight! @FaulknerKristen lead into the day by 2 points over @aliACTIONjackso in the morning. But the Canadian took 2 points at the first sprint, so now they are tied. Let's hear what Jackson said at the start! #lton21 #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/CWVKTAjiLS
— UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) August 15, 2021
“I think you have to be [confident] in your ability in order to handle the chaos and the madness that this final technical circuit will give us,” said Jackson before the fourth stage.
She had 19 points while and Faulkner had 21.
Jackson had been steadily closing the gap between herself and Faulkner in the points ranking, starting in fourth place in the first stage then jumping up to second place in the second stage (when she also crossed the line in third.)
The final points
In the intermediate sprint of the fourth stage, Jackson beat Faulkner to third place, which tied Jackson and Faulkner in the points classification.
With three laps to go, Faulkner had tried to anticipate the intermediate sprint, but Jackson hopped on her wheel and came past to win maximum points and take the green jersey. In the end Jackson finished with 25 points, just one point ahead of Faulkner.
“It was quite a fight for the green jersey,” said Jackson. “The team helped me a lot today. First in the preparation for the first intermediate sprint. There I managed to finish third behind the breakaway riders, which put me on par with Faulkner in terms of points. In the second intermediate sprint I was able to take the lead. It was great working with the riders and staff. Everyone was on board 110 percent to execute the team plan. I am proud that we can take the green jersey home.”
The GC went to Annemiek van Vlueten (Movistar Team), Nina Buysman (Parkhotel Valkenburg) easily took the polka dot jersey and Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx) took home best young rider.
Jackson celebrated her win with a TikTok dance featuring teammate Sofia Bertizzolo.
