Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig wins queen stage of Tour of Scandinavia

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has won the queen stage of the Tour of Scandinavia. She beat Liane Lippert to secure the victory.

Team DSM rider Esmée Pepperkamp took the lead of 30 seconds at the start of the stage. But she was soon caught in the next 20 kilometers. The peloton rode together for some kilometers before Sarah Roy took a small lead of 10 seconds which soon increased to 30 seconds in the next 10 kilometers.

Nina Kessler, Lucinda Brand, and Lieke Nooijen soon joined Sarah as the group focused on increasing the gap. But the peloton did not let the riders enjoy the lead for much longer as they soon caught them 45 kilometers before the finish. Sophie Wright was the next to try her luck in an attempt to create some distance, and she was able to create a considerable gap of 2 minutes.

Sophie was caught at the start of the final climb of the race. As the riders started the climb, cracks started to appear in the peloton. Liane Lippert and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig took a 20-second lead. Ludwig took the stage victory as Lippert finished second behind her. Julie Van de Velde took the bronze. Ludwig is also the new overall leader in GC.