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Tour de France Femmes Stage 3: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig beats Vos in Champagne country

Simone Boilard top Canadian again

July 26, 2022
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After a tough Stage 2, Danish champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig beat the yellow jersey Marianne Vos to earn the win on Tuesday. Vos kept the race lead. Simone Boilard was the top Canadian again.

You can watch the Tour de France Femmes at FloBikes.

The Course

Stage 3 was the first hilly parcours of the inaugural TdFF. The main challenges of the 133 km in champagne country came in a 24-km finishing circuit: Côte de Mutigny (900 metres at 12.2 percent) with 16 km to ride, the uncategotized bonus climb (1 km of 4.6 percent) and the 400-metre, 7.7 percent kicker to the line in Épernay.

A few early breaks failed. Even Vos tried to dash clear in the opening 20 km. On the first categorized climb of the day, Cat. 4 Côte de Trépail, Dutch rider Femke Gerritse snagged the points to take the QOM lead from her Parkhotel Valkenburg teammate Femke Markus. Gerritse was also first to the top of Cat. 4 Côte de Vertus 60 km later. She had to keep scrapping with Elise Chabbey on all the early climbs.

Heading into the final 40 km, Canyon-SRAM rider Alena Amialiusik led solo with several women trying to bridge over, mostly individually.

The peloton pulled Amialiusik within touching distance by Côte de Mutigny. Anna van Vleuten, Vos, and Demi Vollering all made the 11-rider selection on the steep grades. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio’s acceleration dropped Vos. Vollering was leading when she crashed in a corner.

Van Vleuten, Elisa Longo Borghini, Moolman-Pasio, Mavi Garcia and Silvia Persico continued on in the front. Vos led the chase and the two groups came together with 7 km to go. None of the 11 riders could jump away from the others.

At the bonus sprint atop Mont Bernon Longo-Borghini nabbed 3 seconds. Van Vleuten was distanced. Three and a half kilometres remainined, with a long descent leading to the day’s climax.

A nontet approached the finale on the cobbles. Van Vleuten made it back. Vollering led out. Moolman-Pasio wound it up with Vos on her wheel. But Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig came up the right barrier to take the win.

Gravel and hills are on the menu for Wednesday.

2022 Tour de France Femmes Stage 3
1) Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark/FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope) 3:22:54
2) Marianne Vos (The Netherlands/Jumbo-Visma) s.t.
3) Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (South Africa/SD Worx) s.t.
32) Simone Boilard (Canada/St Michel-Auber93) +2:25
50) Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +2:39

2022 Tour de France Femmes GC
1) Marianne Vos (The Netherlands/Jumbo-Visma) 8:30:36
2) Silvia Persico (Italy/Valcar-Travel and Service) +0:16
3) Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland/Canyon-SRAM) s.t.
44) Simone Boilard (Canada/St Michel-Auber93) +6:01
51) Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +9:01