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Vos wins Stage 4 of Women’s Tour, Canada’s Kirchmann finishes seventh

May 10, 2014
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Rabo-Liv’s Marianne Vos claimed her second stage victory in a row and extended her lead in the overall classification on day four of the Friends Life Women’s Tour. The world champion outclassed her sprinting rivals with a long kick out of the last corner of a zigzagging final kilometre on the run-in to Welwyn Garden City. Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-Honda finished second. Lucy Garner of Great-Britain was third.

The short, 87.8-km stage, which began in Chestnut, featured plenty of aggression as the ladies fought for bonus seconds and queen of the mountains points. A break of six went away early, with Annemich Van Vleuten, Kasia Pawlowska, Emma Pooley, Janel Howlcomb, Gracie Elwin, and Chantal Blaak included in the move. Despite their strength, the break was no match for the determined peloton which brought them back with 8km to go.

Heading toward the finish, the Rabo-Liv squad took control at the front of the bunch to deliver Vos to the sprint. The world champion and yellow jersey wearer rewarded their efforts in dominant fashion, winning the stage and widening her advantage in the GC with the bonus seconds she earned. Vos now sits 19 seconds ahead of  her closest rival in the overall, Orica-GreenEdge’s Emma Johansson. Rossella Ratto of Estado de Mexico Faren sits third in the GC, 22 seconds back.

Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Leah Kirchmann sprinted to her second straight top 10 in the race with a seventh place. Her fellow Canadian and teammate Denise Ramsden finished 24th.