The Simac Ladies Tour is currently seeing the dominance of Team SD Worx - Protime in the sprint stages but the lead remains in the back of Zoe Bäckstedt. The 20-year old Briton however is racing alone after all her teammates have abandoned the race, including Chloé Dygert in the most unusual circumstances.
Bäckstedt won the initial time-trial of the race and got herself in the race lead. Lorena Wiebes has since won the two sprint stages whilst Bäckstedt's Canyon//SRAM has gone down to just one rider, herself. "It's a bit like cyclo-cross, then I'm also usually alone with my dad and a mechanic. How was the team meeting? I spent an hour in the car with my dad from the hotel to the start," she joked after stage 3 where she survived the crosswind action.
Maike van der Duin, Soraya Paladin and Chloé Dygert all did not start the second stage whilst Alex Morrice abandoned the race during the day. The Briton is effectively alone for the final three stages. The first two will be mostly flat and so it's not an urgent matter, but the final hilly day may prove to be too much if the race turns chaotic.
Her American teammate has abandoned the race in the most unusual of scenarios. Team DS Magnus Bäckstedt told NOS that "Chloé Dygert broke her nose due to a collision with the bathroom door in the hotel. She even continued to ride the opening time trial with a broken nose".
"But afterward, she appeared to have slight symptoms of a concussion, and then we immediately said: stop. Then Maike van der Duin and Soraya Paladin, who shared a room, got sick. And yesterday, Alex Morrice fell behind in the echelon madness and finally dropped out. Zoe will have to do it on her own."
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