Lonneke Uneken sprints to third place in second stage of Simac Ladies Tour

Lonneke Uneken sprints to third place in second stage of Simac Ladies Tour

"Satisfied with this podium finish”

31/08/2022

In the second stage of the Simac Ladies Tour, Lonneke Uneken finished third. In the stage from and to Ede, the 22-year-old Dutch rider finished behind Lorena Wiebes and Laura Tomasi. "Elena Cecchini placed me perfectly and I felt I had good legs, so I'm happy I was able to confirm that with a podium place," said Uneken, who takes over the youth leader’s jersey thanks to the bonification seconds.

Linked race Simac Ladies Tour - Linked cyclists Christine Majerus Lonneke Uneken Elena Cecchini Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak - Gekoppelde ploegleiders: Anna van der Breggen Danny Stam

The second stage of the Simac Ladies Tour was not very hilly. In the 117 kilometres around Ede, a bunch sprint seemed inevitable. An early breakaway was formed with Senne Knaven, Lieke Nooijen and Georgia Baker. At 23 kilometres from the finish the latter was on her own. She held on for a long time but Team DSM controlled her escape. "It wasn't up to us to close the gap. The main thing was to come through today well today," Uneken said afterwards. "It was clear pretty soon that this stage would end in a sprint. It was pretty monotonous and the course was sheltered by the many trees, so no echelons could be drawn."

The sprint was indeed inevitable and and Uneken went full in. "I was in a good position in the last kilometres, unlike yesterday where I screwed up and let myself get caught up at one and a half kilometres from the finish. Today it went well. Cecchini dropped me perfectly and then I could go my own way and ride my own sprint. I'm happy that I finished third and rectified my mistake from yesterday. The legs are good and maybe a new sprint opportunity awaits tomorrow. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be the third time lucky."

Uneken will start the third stage in the white youth leader’s jersey. "That classification is a goal of mine. I knew we were all in the same time, so I wanted to get some bonification seconds along the way. But there was already a breakaway group. So I had to get bonification seconds at the finish. I succeeded with my third place. It's my last year as an Under-23 so I'm not going to give up that jersey just like that."  

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