Ladies Tour of Norway 2021 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 15, 2021

Ladies Tour of Norway 2021 – Stage 4 – Drøbak – Halden : 141,6 km

Falling in August, the Ladies Tour of Norway has kickstarted the latter half of the racing season ever since it was first added to the calendar in 2014. In 2017 it was upgraded to the Women’s WorldTour and has gone from strength to strength ever since. This year’s race will follow a slightly different format, with four road stages instead of three. It’ll also be the first edition in the race’s short history to feature a mountaintop stage finish – on day three the riders will tackle the punishing, 10km-long ascent to the Norefjell ski resort.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) has won the 2021 Ladies Tour of Norway. After a solo win on the summit finish the previous day, her lead was never in danger on the final stage 4 and she won the title by 39 seconds over Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (SD Worx) and 50 seconds over Kristen Faulkner (TIBCO-Siicon Valley Bank)

“This morning I was waking up not nervous at all, because I know, when I have girls like these around me, I can feel safe, and I was never in trouble today. Having the team always around me is good. With the Grand Tours coming up in 2022 and the Tour de France, I think this team showed they know what to do,” Van Vleuten said.

“I didn’t need to tell them anything, it was super good to ride with them and I felt so proud about their work. In the final circuit, it was a bit hectic, yet it was so nice to have the team at the front at all times there, which kept me really safe. If there were any plans to try and make up some time there, we showed the other teams that we could keep the front.”

Two escapees were reeled in before the finishing circuit in Halden. There were a couple of attacks on the three laps, but the stage came down to a sprint in the end.

After being set up by her teammate Lucinda Brand on the run-in, Chloe Hosking (Trek-Segafredo), who returns to racing after recovering from a COVID-19 infection, launched a long sprint and held off Coryn Rivera (Team DSM) and Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service) to win the final stage.

“I definitely did not expect a win here,” Hosking said in a team press release. “I could see in my training that I was coming up and coming up, but I was really looking at Norway to help me build for the races that are coming alter. But honestly, I love this race, I love this stage, I have finished 4th, 5th, 6th on this stage before, so I think this is my fourth try, and I finally got the line right.”

How it unfolded

Stage 4 started in Drøbak at the narrowest point of the Oslofjord and finished in Halden, the hometown of the race, with three-and-a-half laps of a technical finishing circuit of 5.4 km that included many turns, short up and downhills, as well as a cobblestone section. The total distance was 141.6 km.

Right after start, Rossella Ratto (Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire) and Julie van de Velde (Team Jumbo-Visma) attacked and were let go by the peloton. Working together, they extended their advantage to 6:23 with 96km to go before it started to go back again.

Back in the peloton, Alison Jackson (Liv Racing) beat Tanja Erath and Kristen Faulkner (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) to the third place at the first intermediate sprint, tying Jackson and Faulkner in the points classification. Later, Nina Buysman (Parkhotel Valkenburg) secured her mountain jersey by taking the remaining points on the day’s first classified climb.

The gap between Ratto and Van de Velde and the peloton had come down to 3:45 at 55km from the finish when Anne Dorthe Ysland (Team Coop-Hitec Products) counterattacked, but her solo chase was shortlived as the sprinters’ teams began to reel in the breakaway in earnest. Team DSM in particular took no chances and committed two riders to the chase in Wilma Olausson and Floortje Mackaij. With only one minute remaining of their lead, Van de Velde left Ratto behind with 30km to go, but the Dutchwoman was also caught at the 20-kilometre mark.

On the finishing circuit, Faulkner tried to anticipate the intermediate sprint with three laps to go, but Jackson jumped on her wheel and came past to win maximum points and take over the green jersey on the final day.

A crash brought down Mavi García (Alé BTC Ljubljana), third in GC going into the stage, as well as Julie De Wilde (Plantur-Pura) and Alexis Ryan (Canyon-SRAM). García was quickly back on her bike but could not catch up with the peloton again and ultimately dropped to 19th overall, losing her podium spot to Faulkner.

Brand tested the waters with an acceleration on the cobblestone section on the first lap but did not follow through. There were further attacks by Nancy van der Burg (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo), but Team DSM and Valcar-Travel & Service closed everything down quickly.

On the penultimate lap, Movistar set a high pace to discourage attacks, and on the final lap, Team DSM took control with their sprint train. With Hosking in her wheel, Brand came to the front with 2.5 kilometres to go and did a long turn at high speed until she swung off 700 metres from the finish. Hosking then launched her sprint with 400 metres to go and held on to the line to win the stage.

Overall winner Van Vleuten naturally defended her lead in the UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking; Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx) won the U23 classification and took over the lead in the Women’s WorldTour U23 ranking. Emilie Moberg (Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur) was the best Norwegian rider, Team SD Worx won the team classification.

Results :
1 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 3:36:06
2 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team DSM
3 Chiara Consonni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
4 Christine Majerus (Lux) Team SD Worx
5 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
6 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing
7 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Team SD Worx
8 Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing
9 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
10 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
11 Juliette Labous (Fra) Team DSM
12 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
13 Ingvild Gåskjenn (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products
14 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
15 Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Nor) Norway National Team
16 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women
17 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
18 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
19 Femke Markus (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
20 Susanne Andersen (Nor) Team DSM
21 Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
22 Nancy van der Berg (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
23 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
24 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
25 Annemarie Worst (Ned) Plantur-Pura
26 Anne Dorthe Ysland (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products
27 Birgitte Andersen Nilssen (Nor) Norway National Team
28 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
29 Wilma Olausson (Swe) Team DSM
30 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
31 Amalie Lutro (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products
32 Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) Liv Racing
33 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
34 Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
35 Vita Heine (Nor) Norway National Team
36 Liane Lippert (Ger) Team DSM
37 Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Plantur-Pura
38 Leah Thomas (USA) Movistar Team Women
39 Anna Shackley (GBr) Team SD Worx
40 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
41 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
42 Kristen Faulkner (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
43 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
44 Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
45 Rachel Neylan (Aus) Parkhotel Valkenburg
46 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
47 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange 0:00:16
48 Mischa Bredewold (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
49 Ella Harris (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
50 Roxane Fournier (Fra) Team SD Worx
51 Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team DSM
52 Joscelin Lowden (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
53 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
54 Natalie van Gogh (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
55 Amber Kraak (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
56 Aude Biannic (Fra) Movistar Team Women
57 Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:00:22
58 Nina Buijsman (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
59 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:25
60 Sara Penton (Swe) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:00:59
61 Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team Women
62 Mari Hole Mohr (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:01:40
63 Tiril Jørgensen (Nor) Norway National Team
64 Tanja Erath (Ger) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
65 Inge van der Heijden (Ned) Plantur-Pura
66 Magdalene Lind (Nor) Norway National Team
67 Justine Ghekiere (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
68 Caroline Andersson (Swe) Team Coop Hitec Products
69 Sanne Cant (Bel) Plantur-Pura
70 Elise Marie Olsen (Nor) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:01:43
71 Manon Bakker (Ned) Plantur-Pura
72 Ingrid Lorvik (Nor) Norway National Team
73 Evy Kuijpers (Ned) Liv Racing
74 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
75 Urska Pintar (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
76 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing
77 Audrey Cordon Ragot (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
78 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
79 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Movistar Team Women
80 Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women
81 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:02:22
82 Femke Gerritse (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:02:44
83 Jessica Allen (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:04:05
84 Eri Yonamine (Jpn) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
85 Sophie Wright (GBr) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:04:20
86 Pien Limpens (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
87 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
88 Elynor Backstedt (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
89 Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
90 Ann Helen Olsen (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products
91 Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
92 Anna Christian (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
93 Julie Van De Velde (Bel) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
94 Urska Zigart (Slo) Team BikeExchange
95 Julie De Wilde (Bel) Plantur-Pura 0:07:24
DNF Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-SRAM Racing
DNF Diana Carolina Peñuela Martinez (Col) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNS Rotem Gafinovitz (Isr) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire

Final General Classification :
1 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women 14:46:31
2 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx 0:00:39
3 Kristen Faulkner (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:00:50
4 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:00:54
5 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:00:58
6 Rachel Neylan (Aus) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:01:00
7 Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:01:13
8 Juliette Labous (Fra) Team DSM 0:01:22
9 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
10 Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Plantur-Pura 0:01:24
11 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:01:25
12 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx 0:01:27
13 Anna Shackley (GBr) Team SD Worx 0:01:40
14 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
15 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:01:49
16 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:01:51
17 Joscelin Lowden (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:01:56
18 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange
19 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:02:30
20 Ella Harris (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:02:53
21 Leah Thomas (USA) Movistar Team Women 0:03:09
22 Ingvild Gåskjenn (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:03:18
23 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:23
24 Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team DSM 0:03:34
25 Mischa Bredewold (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
26 Urska Pintar (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:04:06
27 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:04:21
28 Vita Heine (Nor) Norway National Team
29 Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:05:03
30 Anne Dorthe Ysland (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:05:15
31 Liane Lippert (Ger) Team DSM 0:05:23
32 Annemarie Worst (Ned) Plantur-Pura 0:06:26
33 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing 0:06:30
34 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:06:43
35 Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Nor) Norway National Team
36 Nancy van der Berg (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
37 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:06:46
38 Sanne Cant (Bel) Plantur-Pura 0:06:55
39 Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:07:02
40 Christine Majerus (Lux) Team SD Worx 0:07:52
41 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team DSM 0:08:15
42 Amber Kraak (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:08:17
43 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:09:08
44 Urska Zigart (Slo) Team BikeExchange 0:09:34
45 Wilma Olausson (Swe) Team DSM 0:10:03
46 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:10:08
47 Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
48 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
49 Susanne Andersen (Nor) Team DSM 0:10:36
50 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:10:56
51 Ingrid Lorvik (Nor) Norway National Team 0:11:09
52 Femke Markus (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:11:12
53 Nina Buijsman (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:11:14
54 Inge van der Heijden (Ned) Plantur-Pura 0:11:50
55 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:11:57
56 Roxane Fournier (Fra) Team SD Worx 0:12:07
57 Femke Gerritse (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:12:35
58 Amalie Lutro (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:14:22
59 Julie De Wilde (Bel) Plantur-Pura 0:14:48
60 Tiril Jørgensen (Nor) Norway National Team 0:14:58
61 Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing 0:15:39
62 Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) Liv Racing 0:15:50
63 Birgitte Andersen Nilssen (Nor) Norway National Team 0:16:26
64 Julie Van De Velde (Bel) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:16:46
65 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Team SD Worx 0:16:52
66 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:16:57
67 Chiara Consonni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:17:07
68 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:17:11
69 Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:17:22
70 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Movistar Team Women 0:18:13
71 Eri Yonamine (Jpn) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:18:21
72 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:59
73 Justine Ghekiere (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire 0:21:21
74 Sophie Wright (GBr) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:21:30
75 Aude Biannic (Fra) Movistar Team Women 0:21:38
76 Mari Hole Mohr (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:21:49
77 Magdalene Lind (Nor) Norway National Team 0:21:52
78 Audrey Cordon Ragot (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:58
79 Pien Limpens (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:22:01
80 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire 0:22:21
81 Caroline Andersson (Swe) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:23:13
82 Jessica Allen (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:24:10
83 Tanja Erath (Ger) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:25:09
84 Natalie van Gogh (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire 0:25:52
85 Elise Marie Olsen (Nor) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:26:36
86 Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:27:41
87 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:27:44
88 Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:28:19
89 Sara Penton (Swe) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:28:27
90 Manon Bakker (Ned) Plantur-Pura 0:29:27
91 Evy Kuijpers (Ned) Liv Racing
92 Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:30:12
93 Anna Christian (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:30:24
94 Ann Helen Olsen (Nor) Team Coop Hitec Products 0:32:16
95 Elynor Backstedt (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:35:15