Tour de France Femmes: Emotional Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig wins thrilling Stage 3 showdown to boost FDJ morale

ByKaty Madgwick

Updated 26/07/2022 at 15:40 GMT

Monday was a day to forget for FDJ Suez Futuroscope… Tuesday will be a day to remember. After a crash-strewn outing 24 hours ago, which forced co-leader Marta Cavalli to abandon, the team bounced back with a sensational win for Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. Marianne Vos finished second to keep the yellow jersey for another day, while pre-race favourite Annemiek van Vleuten struggled.

Danish national champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig won in dominant fashion on Stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes, 24 hours after the day from hell wreaked havoc on her team, FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope.

There was a sense of redemption about Uttrup Ludwig’s ride, as she showed her strength to remain with a late breakaway of leading contenders before powering up the finishing strait in Epernay.

She finished just ahead of Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), who retains the yellow jersey for a second day.

Tirreno - Adriatico

Vingegaard says Tirreno-Adriatico 'one of the biggest victories' after sealing GC triumph

10/03/2024 at 18:08

The stage started as it meant to go on in Reims, beginning in explosive fashion with early attacks from key players including Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) and Vos herself, who almost managed to break free from the peloton after just over 10km had elapsed in the race.

While riders tried to get away an early breakaway was never on the cards, and the bunch remained relatively intact for almost 80km on a day of two halves, with the majority of the climbing in the latter.

'Such a good comeback after a f****** s*** day' - Uttrup Ludwig on Stage 3 win

The first and second categorised climbs of the day may have been separated by over 50km, but the action was almost identical, with Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg) beating Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM) to the points on both occasions, and bagging the polka dot Queen of the Mountains jersey in the process, taking it from previous holder and Gerritse’s team-mate, Femke Markus.

It was following this second climb that the attacking began in earnest. Canyon//SRAM’s Alena Amialiusik broke clear of the bunch and quickly built up a lead, riding solo all the way to the final climb despite the best efforts of a number of other riders to join her.

The third category Cote de Mutigny presented the sternest test of the day and as predicted, the race lit up on its leg-breaking slopes, as an elite group of mostly GC hopefuls took on gradients of up to 18% to pull clear of the bunch.

Demi Vollering of SD Worx was first over the top of the climb, but less than a kilometre later she was taken out of the race briefly as she slid out on a corner and came off her bike, along with Team DSM’s Liane Lippert.

'Exactly the same point' - Vollering and Lippert in copycat crash

The impact of the climb caused the elite group to split in two, with Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) and Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar) the riders with the most to gain, as the yellow jersey, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) and Uttrup Ludwig fought to close the gap in the second group.

Vollering made it back to the group with exceptional efficiency and the elite group came back together heading into the climb of Mont Bernon, where Longo Borghini just pipped Niewiadoma to take three bonus seconds.

The excruciating final climb up to the line saw the group fracture with Van Vleuten dropped, and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (SD Worx) and Vos coming to the fore along with Niewiadoma.

It was Uttrup Ludwig though, who took the win. Timing her attack to perfection, she stormed past Vos in the final 50m to cross the line first and give her team something to celebrate after a terrible day on Stage 2. She gave a characteristically emotional interview after the stage, and moves into the top 10 on GC as a result of her outstanding ride.

Van Vleuten was able to claw her way back to the group and minimise her losses. The Giro Donne winner revealed after the race she had been suffering from a stomach bug, which had caused her to struggle on yesterday’s stage. She moves into ninth on GC.

Vos continues to lead, from Silvia Persico (Valcar Travel & Service) and Niewiadoma, who sit second and third in the overall standings, both tied on 16 seconds behind the leader.

- - -

Stream the Tour de France Femmes live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

Tour de France

Podium hopefuls Mas and Carapaz abandon Tour after Stage 1 crash

02/07/2023 at 12:39

Tour de France

Full list of teams and riders for the Tour de France as Froome misses out

29/06/2023 at 19:37

Giro d'Italia

Stage 13 highlights - Rubio takes victory after weather and Pinot drama

00:03:33

|

20/05/2023 at 12:49